The USA is being run by idiots, and some people want to import the nonsense here.
@selzero Let the fools drink raw milk, bleach, and anything else that might at least remove them from the gene pool, and at best arranges them a swift appointment with St Peter.
@dissident @selzero the problem is they're promoting it so people who don't know better are e.g. feeding it to kids, who have no choice.
And some of them die.
It's not their fault. This is what government is meant to prevent, not profit from.
@noodlemaz @dissident @selzero The majority of these people know better, or should if they stayed awake at all in school or learned basic food hygiene. They're the same kind that refuse vaccines cuz it contains mercury and dead viruses. It sounds scary so they refuse to learn about it or accept they're wrong.
I hate it for the kids. Stupidity hurts everyone
@HappyCrow13 @dissident @selzero it's still not up to individuals to fight every kind of misinformation alone. That it now comes from the US government and all manner of quacks are legimitised is a major public health crisis. And not just for that country.
@noodlemaz @dissident @selzero People have been distrusting doctors and the government for years I get why. Fighting misinformation only works if you're willing to accept you're wrong which these types of people aren't or they 'know better'
In the US at least it's up to the individual to use common sense. Most of us learn basic germ theory in school, why we pasturize dairy and don't drink or swim in bad water. We even learn the basic of vaccines.
There is no excuse for this stupidity not anymore

@HappyCrow13 @dissident @selzero to be fair in the US, doctors/medicine and private companies are so entwined, it's not entirely unreasonable to distrust.
Especially if you're not a white, able-bodied straight man. Medicine is great at marginalising a lot of people and making things worse.

So it makes sense people look to 'alternatives', even though they're so often total shit and even worse, and also a før-profit grift.

So again, we need effective regulation. Not govt that is captured by - and made up of - those self same grifters.

@noodlemaz @dissident @selzero I totally agree about the government and doctors I agree why folks look for alternatives
I don't agree on excusing blatent stupidity. It's one thing to look for alternatives it's another to completely dismiss everyone telling you don't do something like drink raw milk or horse dewormer to cure COVID cuz they disagree with your 'research'
Excusing stupidity is making everything worse. It's past time holding everyone accountable for this shit citizens and government
@noodlemaz @dissident @selzero I grew up surrounded by these kinds of people. They're not ignorant they're stubborn and stupid. Mostly stupid. They feel superior cuz they don't follow Big Whatever (except when it suits them). All this raw milk BS is very 'I lived thru it it's fine' (It ranging from beating kids to not vaxing them to consuming dangerous foods)
We as a nation are very stupid and selfish. It's painful to see

@HappyCrow13 @dissident @selzero I mean, define stupid?*
Sure some people are easy to hate and dismiss and call names.
But that means we need these systems even more. Because those people convince other people.

People are persuaded by stories and emotion, not facts and data. We know this. Grifters are better at it. People are susceptible. It's not an either/or, are you 'stupid' or not. People come back from these thought processes, and everyone is prone to conspiracy. It's part of how our minds work.

It's worth thinking about.
We should always strive to blame the grifters, not the victims. However judgmental we want to be about them.

*https://noodlemaz.wordpress.com/2021/09/22/problems-with-stupid/ (apologies if broken links/images)

Problems with “stupid”

Stupid. A word I have used so many times for many years. It’s easy, simple, versatile and vitriolic if you want it to be. Dismissive and gratifying. But these are also things that can be wron…

Purely a figment of your imagination

@noodlemaz @dissident @selzero I define stupid as unwilling to learn, unwilling to be wrong and ignoring things that disagree with you or your world view. Blindly following someone because they're in charge or part of your in group. Assuming you're smarter or the exception in every situation

Personal responsibility is a thing too Education and support can only do so much when people think they're never wrong and refuse to change

@noodlemaz @dissident @selzero Also I do blame the grifters. I blame people supporting them too
Emotions and stories don't work when you can't accept anything outside your PoV
That's the crux of my gripe. Unwillingness for anything outside of your scope
Too many people refuse to let go of whatever superiority they think they have over other people. I'm tired of letting people get away with it, tired of it literally killing people
@HappyCrow13 @dissident @selzero on the last, I totally agree. The FDA etc used to kind of have some teeth and would 'help stamp out quackery'. But it becane too good a business. Now there's a chiropractor on every corner and everyone's giving health advice, shops have a full woo section and it's just... Normal.
It's not that much better here.