Support NeoGAF

[Pancake Mix]

At least as a parent and a citizen of society.

I'm trying to think of something that could negatively affect more people with zero positive effect, and I've come up empty. Making your child a disease vector for things we've long since cured because of a non-existent link with autism has got to be the most irrational and stupid thing to do. Whenever you hear or read a story of a misinformed parent thinking it's how their kid got autism, I just want to say, no lady, it wasn't due to the vaccine, and there's plenty of evidence it probably had more to do with genetic factors (you) than environmental ones. Diseases that were on the brink of eradication have come back because of idiots who heard about a single unscientific and long since discredited study from the 1990's.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.

 

[Septimus Prime]

You could also vote Republican.

 

[Escape Goat]

No but it certainly is a very stupid thing to do.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Maybe. Either that or voting Trump.

 

[Xe4]

Basically. It has the potential to ruin a lot of peoples lives, and you're a huge jerk (and unfortunately horrible misinformed) for doing it. We really need better vaccine education in this country.

Maybe. Either that or voting Trump.

They both basically do the same thing, which is lead to a less vaccinated society.

 

[Lothar]

I think it's being against euthanasia. But not vaccinating children could be second maybe.

 

[Dai101]

You could also vote Republican.

Antivaxxers come in all shape and ideologies. Not only dumbfucks like republicans but also a lot of left leaning loonies.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

It's up there.

I'm still recovering from the vaccination thread earlier in the week.

 

[Platy]

Does it count as selfish if you don't know it can fuck up other people ?

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Antivaxxers come in all shape and ideologies. Not only dumbfucks like republicans but also a lot of left leaning loonies.

While accurate I would surmise a greater percentage of conservatives are against vaccinations. Aside from that they are also the side of inequality and climate control denial.

It's up there.

I'm still recovering from the vaccination thread earlier in the week.

I must have missed it. Was I lucky to?

 

[tbm24]

It's up there, as is voting republican. My wife was friends with someone who bought into all the hysteria about vaccines and firmly believes they exist as a form of population control. She's overly privileged and a hermit who is afraid to leave her home. She passes on her hysteria to her child and won't get her vaccinated. She then doesn't allow her child to go outside much and tried her hardest to have her home schooled until she realized she had to actually do work. She then wanted to keep her child home out of school but I threatened to call child services. Suffice it to say she and my wife are no longer friends especially as we're expecting in June. I can't imagine others stories are all that different in regards to their level of selfishness. It's not about the children, it's always about them.

 

[excelsiorlef]

You could also vote Republican.

One and done.

Bravo

 

[ebullientprism]

I am struggling to think of anything worse. So I guess so.

 

[Pancake Mix]

Antivaxxers come in all shape and ideologies. Not only dumbfucks like republicans but also a lot of left leaning loonies.

True, and to annoy both of them, we need a campaign that co-opts their slogans.

#MakeVaccinesNearlyUnbeatableAgain

We have the power to end mumps and a few other diseases. All it takes is intelligence.

Does it count as selfish if you don't know it can fuck up other people ?

It's highly likely a doctor would have explained that to them when they went "oh, uhhhh it's my personal belief that vaccines cause autism, yeah. 'hic.'"

 

[brianjones]

It's up there, as is voting republican. My wife was friends with someone who bought into all the hysteria about vaccines and firmly believes they exist as a form of population control. She's overly privileged and a hermit who is afraid to leave her home. She passes on her hysteria to her child and won't get her vaccinated. She then doesn't allow her child to go outside much and tried her hardest to have her home schooled until she realized she had to actually do work. She then wanted to keep her child home out of school but I threatened to call child services. Suffice it to say she and my wife are no longer friends especially as we're expecting in June. I can't imagine others stories are all that different in regards to their level of selfishness. It's not about the children, it's always about them.

Yikes that sounds horrifying.. poor kid

some people should really not be allowed to have them

 

[Andrew Korenchkin]

Definitely one of them, outside of straight up abuse.

 

[UFO]

It's mostly ignorant, not usually selfish.

 

[tbm24]

Yikes that sounds horrifying.. poor kid

some people should really not be allowed to have them

Should add she's in her mid twenties and spends her days taking pictures for instagrams and calling herself a spiritual guru. She's no crazy republican, just crazy.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Does it count as selfish if you don't know it can fuck up other people ?

Not vaccinating for any non-medical reason is stupid, selfish and dangerous.

 

[Pancake Mix]

It's mostly ignorant, not usually selfish.

Considering it leads to stuff like sterilization and death in many cases, it is incredibly selfish to cause that risk to other people. We have the power as a species to throw certain diseases in the dustbin of history, yet uneducated fools rely on a long-since discredited study from the 1990's.

 

[George Washington]

It could be selfishness or ignorance. Either way, if you're going against the recommendation(s) of pediatricians / medical doctors, you're doing your child a serious disservice.

 

[Pancake Mix]

It could be selfishness or ignorance. Either way, if you're going against the recommendation of pediatricians / medical doctors, you're doing your child a serious disservice.

It's not just your child, it's other children and adults. It negatively affects everyone, for scientifically no reason at all.

 

[Septimus Prime]

Antivaxxers come in all shape and ideologies. Not only dumbfucks like republicans but also a lot of left leaning loonies.

You're right, but the question was asking if not vaccinating your kids is the most selfish and self-defeating thing you could possibly do.

Voting Republican is. Even in its most idyllic form, the party's platform is that people should take care of themselves and get what they deserve, which itself is a selfish paradigm. But as we're seeing now, the current platform is totally about fucking people over for a few to profit, and many of those voting for it are voting against their own interests. That's where the self-defeating part comes in.

 

[mdubs]

Not washing your hands after going to the bathroom is probably up there as well

 

[Toxi]

It'd be more dangerous than voting for Trump if there were as many anti-vaxxers as Trump voters.

But fortunately, or unfortunately, there aren't. So herd immunity at least has some effect still.

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

It's not only selfish, but dangerous.

 

[George Washington]

It's not just your child, it's other children and adults. It negatively affects everyone, for scientifically no reason at all.

True, but iirc, public schools / institutions require your children to be compliant with vaccinations. But yes, you are needlessly creating the potential for a walking biohazard.

 

[dr3upmushroom]

I still don't understand how this gained traction. Lackof understanding of both biology and history I guess. Both my kids are vaccinated.

 

[Platy]

Not vaccinating for any non-medical reason is stupid, selfish and dangerous.

I mean ... does an action count as selfish if in the mind of the person doing the action it cannot affect anyone else ?

 

[Pancake Mix]

True, but iirc, public schools / institutions require your children to be compliant with vaccinations. But yes, you are needlessly creating the potential for a walking biohazard.

It should be forced.

In most Western countries, parents cannot refuse blood transfusions for their children on religious grounds, for example, and that's something that only affects that child.

In contrast, not vaccinating creates a risk that affects everybody. Hard to believe that billions of years of evolution have come to a point where we can eradicate diseases, but we have to deal with weak links.

I mean ... does an action count as selfish if in the mind of the person doing the action it cannot affect anyone else ?

Selfishness can be relative to that person, or the objective standard of a reasonable person in society. In the case of ignorant, otherwise well-meaning people it's the latter. It's amazingly selfish.

 

[Naudi]

The answer to your question is no.

 

[necrosis]

it's second to voting republican

 

[Saganator]

You could also vote Republican.

You could also be transgender and vote Republican.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

I think it's being against euthanasia. .

Happy to be selfish then.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Happy to be selfish then.

Weird sentiment.

 

[mAcOdIn]

I would say so. I mean, I'm allergic to one of the flu shots myself and I still think everyone should try. I get the concerns, I get some of the responses, like it wasn't the vaccine but maybe a condition the person already had that got prompted by the vaccine or something in it that you'd likely have still gotten later had you not been vaccinated. Frankly, I don't know. I don't even care really because you're dealing with the kinds of things that you just don't, and can't, know so statistically, and according to current research, the best bet is to just get the vaccine. I think it's that simple.

Moreso I look at these decisions like this: In the future is it possible a link between certain vaccines and autism or anything else is found? Sure. However, the important thing is this, say there was a link, and if so it'd be a really small one, would it be worth it to let those diseases come back to stave off that super small chance of something happening because of the vaccine? The answer's clearly no. So even if someone came to me today and said they have proof that one in a million children will develop autism or whatever because of this or that vaccine however they can not make this vaccine any better than they do and frankly they can't tell what child would be affected by it in advance I would still say vaccinate. Because in a world without vaccines you'd have as much control over your kid getting polio as you would autism! Less really!

This stupid anti-vaccination movement only "works" right now because it's fringe but if it continues to grow more kids would be negatively affected by these diseases than could ever be negatively affected by a vaccine.

So I look at these types of things the same way I look at anything else. You gotta love your kids but all of life is a risk. You sending them to school is a risk you take every day. Some kids, somewhere will die at school, killed by a classmate, killed on the way to or from school, kill themselves over bullying, die while playing, it's going to happen to some kids somewhere. And it's tragic. Everything in our power should be done to keep them as safe as possible. But your kid still needs to go to fucking school, the answer is not to fucking close down schools. You still have to take that risk. Vaccines are for sure safer than school so you should do that too.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

I mean ... does an action count as selfish if in the mind of the person doing the action it cannot affect anyone else ?

Yes. Because they didn't consider it.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

I'd rather use the word "dangerous". I wish it was just self-defeating because that means that all the people who aren't fucking insane and protect their children from illnesses wouldn't become vulnerable due to herd immunity being effected by this nonsense.

We figured out this vaccine thing ages ago and now idiots who have nothing better to do than wring their hands over stupid shit they heard from facebook/washed up celebrities are trying to drag us back to the good ol' polio days.

 

[Kthulhu]

Yup.

The only reason you shouldn't vaccinate your kids is if you can't afford it or if they can't be immunized.

Children of parents that refuse vaccination should be denied access to public school.

 

[Michael F. Assbender]

If you refuse to vaccinate your kids, you should be charged with child endangerment (unless there are some definite extenuating circumstances that prevent it, obviously).

Enough with pussyfooting around with the idiots in our society. We either drag them kicking and screaming into a world where facts matter, or they drag the rest of us backward (see: Donald Trump's election and administration).

 

[Kai Dracon]

I see it as if being a flat earther did more than just make you look silly and anti-reason, but actively hurt other people... focusing first, of all things, on children.

Suddenly your personal irrationality becomes a lot more alarming and no joking matter.

 

[Naudi]

If you refuse to vaccinate your kids, you should be charged with child endangerment (unless there are some definite extenuating circumstances that prevent it, obviously).

Enough with pussyfooting around with the idiots in our society. We either drag them kicking and screaming into a world where facts matter, or they drag the rest of us backward (see: Donald Trump's election and administration).

Wow. You scare me lol

 

[HawksWinStanley]

Not washing your hands after going to the bathroom is probably up there as well

Walked up to a urinal this week while a guy was flushing and coming out of a stall. Dude just walked right on out. The bathroom had a door handle you have to pull to exit and there were no paper towels to grab the handle. I ended up using my shirt.

 

[Kthulhu]

Wow. You scare me lol

Well they aren't wrong. Those parents are endangering their kids and other people's kids.

 

[Maximo]

You could also vote Republican.

Or force them to be Vegan.

 

[Dai101]

Well they aren't wrong. Those parents are endangering their kids and other people's kids.

Also inmuno-compromised adults and elderly

Or force them to be Vegan.

 

[Naudi]

Well they aren't wrong. Those parents are endangering their kids and other people's kids.

We do numerous things every single day in our lives that "endanger" other people. Doesnt mean we get charged for it.

 

[Media]

I think it's bullshit you can opt out of vaccines on religious or personal belief grounds in public schools yet my kids can't take a soda to school because it encourages obesity. My kids ain't obese. They aren't even fat. Yet I put a small can of soda in their lunch and the teachers will take it away and dump it. Fuck you school.

 

[videogamephilosopher]

Do most people disagree with the reporters stance at the end of this report?
https://youtu.be/p-sWZx6DOMM

 

[nickgia]

It's a real jerk move.