• @[email protected]
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    82 months ago

    We also have a chronic disposition toward optimism. You know “the American dream” and all that.

    So a disease with a 10% mortality rate has a 90% survival rate. And 90% is bigger than 50%, so when you factor in chronic optimism it’s basically a 100% survival rate in our brains.

  • @[email protected]
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    132 months ago

    Because “totally preventable” is financially unaffordable for most of us. My insurance won’t help pay for vaccines unless I get them done during a PCP appointment, but those are scheduled months in advance. I normally go to my local pharmacy and pay $20 for a flu shot, but covid vaccines are like $100-300 without insurance.

    I’ve had gastro problems for a few years now, but because insurance and bureaucracy, I JUST got a scope done yesterday and they found a bunch of ulcers in my intestines that I’ve just been living with, untreated, because there’s no option to speed things up without money. It COULD have been caught years ago, but getting prompt medical care is too bougie for me.

    • Jerkface (any/all)
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      2 months ago

      The leading cause of death is not viral infection, it’s heart disease. And heart disease is 100% preventable through diet that is cheaper than the SAD. There are more examples. Just go down the leading causes of death of Americans, they are largely preventable.

      • @[email protected]
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        42 months ago

        And heart disease is 100% preventable through diet that is cheaper than the SAD.

        I need a source on congenital heart disease not existing.

        • Jerkface (any/all)
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          2 months ago

          Lol got me. I am of course referring to atherosclerosis, which is on its own the leading cause of death of Americans. Now what?

            • Jerkface (any/all)
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              2 months ago

              Note that says reverse, not prevent. This means that if you are on the verge of a heart attack, you may wish to consider additional interventions. CVD takes years of bad behaviour.

              Atherosclerosis is acquired from diet. There is no other way to get it. The components of diet that lead to atherosclerosis are entirely avoidable. They are not just non-essential, they are harmful.

              I have a resource I can check for a source, but I don’t think you’re fully acting in good faith. You keep trying to deny the premise rather than actually engaging with it. Like I’m trying to pull one over on you or something. Or, like 99% of other Americans, you are desperately trying to avoid processing the truth of the matter.

              I get that you are skeptical. I also see that you are not informed. So maybe just take a minute and consider, what if it’s true? What would that discussion look like?

              (Here is a collection of links to research showing that CVD is both preventable and largely reversible: https://pmri.org/research/heart-disease)

              • @[email protected]
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                12 months ago

                I just have trust problems whenever somebody says a medical condition is 100% one thing and nothing else could ever cause or cure it. I’ve had too many doctors tell me that my GI problems are just anxiety and couldn’t possibly be a real thing. I’ve had doctors tell me that my GI problems are actually an eating disorder and I need more antidepressants. I’ve had doctors tell me that I should be happy about my GI problems because a lot of people struggle with losing weight.

                So yeah, diet is a tricky subject for me right now, because all I want to do is eat a normal meal, and the main response I’ve gotten has been “have you tried eating normal meals?”

    • @[email protected]OP
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      2 months ago

      I know your pain. Well, no, but I know a similar pain. Years of getting root canals at the dental school. Years and years of untreated adhd lending to my poor impulse control which would get me in even more trouble. It wasn’t until I became profitable to society that society would invest back into me. Great society you have there. Really.

  • @[email protected]
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    112 months ago

    Probably the same reason Europeans drink and smoke too tbh

    The risk seems worth it. Either because the see it as lower than it is or that the loss of life less valuable than others see it.

      • @[email protected]
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        12 months ago

        Honestly, again, the same reason many people drink and smoke.

        Social activity, cohesion, etc

        Most people don’t do most things rationally

  • @[email protected]
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    62 months ago

    For a disease to be prevented from spreading, you need a certain percentage of people to be immune. It’s different from disease to disease and also depends on the vaccine itself. Some diseases like Covid can still be spread to people who are vaccinated (though obviously the worst of the symptoms are mitigated).

    For the sake of example, let’s say you need 90% immunity for a disease to not spread. Maybe 5% of the population cannot be vaccinated due to immune conditions, being too young, etc. That gives 5% of wiggle room.

    Then there are acolytes of the fraudster, Andrew Wakefield, who faked data to get a flashy headline to get published in a prestigious journal. That includes RFK jr., Jenny Mccarthy, mayim bialik, etc. Clinging to their views for so long makes them unable to change them even if you show them proof that they are wrong. That might be another 1% of people.

    There are a very small percentage of people who shun vaccines for lets say “true” religious reasons. Most of the people who try to claim religious reasoning for refusing vaccines are members of religions that are completely fine with vaccines. They are usually just really stupid people who are scared of needles and/or don’t think it’s that big of a deal with modern medicine. That’s probably another 1% of people.

    Then there are people that are homeless or otherwise outside of the system. Vaccines are one of the most cost effective methods to improve health of a country, so despite the nightmare that is our healthcare system, you typically should never have to pay for a vaccine. It may be a bit more work than someone who is homeless and/or has substance abuse or mental health problems can prioritize. That might be another 1%.

    All together, that would put us at 92%, above the threshold for a widespread epidemic, but all of those categories of people who don’t get vaccinated tend to be in communities, and so we can have outbreaks in those communities.

  • FlashMobOfOne
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    2 months ago

    We’re actively disinformed. That’s why. It’s really that simple.

    • @[email protected]
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      2 months ago

      As an example of the deeply ingrained disinformation and brainwashing, see a comment I made earlier today regarding Liberals continuously blaming progressives for Trumps win — without evidence — instead of the statistically verifiable, and multi-decade ratfuckery by the fascists… not to mention the ~100 million American adults who refuse to vote in every election (aka. the 100 million adults Liberals continuously fail to motivate), or the ~80 million voters who support fascist authoritarianism, or the corporations who have corrupted the political class and propagandized the entire population for 5 decades, or the political class who continuously serve the oligarchy.

      War is peace! Freedom is slavery! The political class, bought and paid for by fascists, will save us from fascism!

      • @[email protected]
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        42 months ago

        Honestly, I just block the people who keep repeating that kinds of BS. They aren’t worth my mental energy.

        Does that mean I miss out on a bunch of discussions on .world? yes, but not wasting my mental energy on bad-faith arguments is worth it.

  • @[email protected]
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    172 months ago

    This is one of those scenarios where it may be better to look at fiber detail

    • life expectancy by state has an 8 year range, from 72 to 80 years
    • our nightmare of health coverage … In 2018, …coverage rates ranged from 82.3% of people in Texas to 97.2% of people in Massachusetts.
    • average income almost doubles, from $87,063 down to $46,511.

    You can go down a list of stats related to quality of life, and see similarly large ranges by state, and the ones on the low end correlate strongly with people who voted Republican. These are poorer people with worse education, worse health, much less income, voting for disrupting the status quo without understanding what that means

    • Jerkface (any/all)
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      2 months ago

      The leading cause of death is the same. The leading cause of death of poor Republicans is the same as that of wealthy cardiologists: preventable forms of heart disease. There is so much toxic masculinity and superstition about food in the USA, even people who know better conform to the cultural norms, and kill themselves with unhealthy food.

  • ssillyssadass
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    82 months ago

    Because, quite frankly, Americans are idiots. They would rather scarf down misinformation given by their news anchors than open a book and/or think for themselves.

  • @[email protected]
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    522 months ago

    Because

    1. taxing the rich is a partisan stance

    2. people are unaware that the government would spend less on singlepayer than it spends currently dealing with middlemen

    3. a non-negligible number of people don’t believe in micro-organisms, nutrition, or cancer as it is understood by doctors

    TLDR: decentralized education with zero funding makes a whole country of dumb assholes.

    • @[email protected]
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      82 months ago

      Congressional democrats have no interest in actual taxing the ultra wealthy either. It’s bipartisan to not “bite the hand that feeds.”

      • @[email protected]
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        2 months ago

        Well the last tax bill was written and passed by the GOP in 2017, it got 0 DNC votes in the house the first time and it passed but with 3 congressional violations which would otherwise protect budget bills from filibuster at the time and so it was filibustered, then it passed the house again with changes and then the Senate 51 to 48 with 0 DNC votes and this time was immune to filibuster.

        Now they get to write the new bill again this time because it is about to expire.

        We DO have an idea of the DNC tax plan from the Kamala Harris Campaign promising to tax unrealized gains over 1M and to remove the upper limit that rich people pay to Socia Security Taxes, while also keeping or lowering taxes on anybody who made less than 400k.

        We also know that the previous Biden Administration supported the IRS and gave them every resource and incentive to Audit the Rich, which they absolutely did.

        So I guess if you ignore literally everything that happens then you can make that claim. Take your pick: ignorant or liar, which do you claim to be?

        • @[email protected]
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          32 months ago

          It’s all posturing. When they actually have the power to fully pass tax bills they don’t. It’s only when they know it won’t become law that they pander to their voters. It’s all a show.

          • @[email protected]
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            2 months ago

            They have not had that power. We refuse to give them that power.

            With that power we have every reason to believe they would tax the rich. Any incentive to stand against this policy would be on the campaign trail: and they don’t use the card even then.

  • @[email protected]
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    72 months ago

    I think many of us don’t realize that there’s a better option. As in, this is just the way it is. Many who do learn there are alternatives then fall to propaganda about how the alternatives are worse or communist, etc.

  • @[email protected]
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    172 months ago
    1. The people who aren’t idiots are already vaccinated so they’ll be fine.

    2. The people who are idiots think they are safer without vaccination. They are the ones who will die (or their children) but they aren’t aware of it.

    3. The people who can’t get vaccinated but aren’t idiots are kind of just screwed but this is an incredibly small minority of the population.

    • @[email protected]
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      32 months ago

      This is not true. Vaccination is not an all or nothing thing. Vaccines don’t work the same for everyone. Many vaccinated individuals rely on herd immunity for full protection. That is why vaccination of as many people as possible is so important. Vaccinated individuals will die due to weakened herd immunity.

    • @[email protected]
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      192 months ago

      People who are vaccinated are 100% going to die from mutated versions of diseases their idiot neighbours have been incubating.

  • @[email protected]
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    2 months ago

    Because we are so far removed from poor conditions that some of us don’t even think they exist. And since they’ve never seen it, misinformation can just slide right in.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      92 months ago

      So why do Republicans like Jesse Watters say things like, “I’m offended that Canada wouldn’t want to be a part of america.”

      • @[email protected]
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        222 months ago

        Every cult has as one of its core tenets that only evil, terrible people wouldn’t want to be part of it.

        The U.S. is currently being run by a cult.

        Not everyone in the U.S. is part of that cult. But a damned lot of the population of the U.S. is.

        Source: Am american.

  • @[email protected]
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    2 months ago

    If you think there are no anti-vaxxers in your country, you’ve got another thing coming.

    Many of the anti-vax groups at the center of outbreaks are members of religious minorities. Menanites, Amish, and Hasidic Jews. The reason it’s become more of a problem is that some upper middle class families have joined in and created more unvaccinated pockets in communities in the last decade.

    For decades the conservative movement in the US has fostered a distrust in government and it has permeated just about everything.