Whereas, and I'm sorry, but I hope those children DO fall ill from a preventable disease. Because that's probably the only way the idiot anti-vaxxers are going to get some sense knocked into them. A round of mild to moderate measles causing 2 months of quarantine sounds like a perfect punishment for putting others at risk because you don't want to take advantage of one of the most important and impactful public health advances in history (hygiene did more, but vaccines are way up there).
I find this comment to be extremely inappropriate, rude and uncalled for. Why are you wishing harm on anyone?!
It would be the same if someone wished that you had a heart attack, stroke, a mental issue (like alzheimers, depression, anxiety, or cancer) because you never got 30 minutes of moderate/vigorous exercise/day, or ate 5 servings of fruits and vegetables/day. (As everyone knows that exercise and a healthy diet prevents many chronic diseases. And parents who are inactive, sedentary and don't eat healthy, are more likely to have kids that are also inactive, sedentary and eat poorly.) Do you exercise daily and always eat healthy Sibley?
Your approach to this topic helps no-one Sibley.
[FWIW - My family and I have all been vaccinated.]
Unless Sibley has amazing powers, her "approach" will not affect anyone, unlike anti-vaxxers, whose approach literally puts the lives of others at risk. This is why your indignant comparison is totally wrong: Sibley not excercising and eating right would only affect Sibley. The fall in vaccination rates has affected MILLIONS worldwide.
I can understand his/her frustration - you certainly don't want anyone dead, but if the children fell ill, you'd hope their parents would come to their senses. Unfortunately, it would probably cause them to double down, because humans are great at lying to themselves.
@Beard N Bones , I have a habit of thinking at a population level. You, clearly, think at an individual level. This isn't wrong, but it is very different and tends to result in exactly the reaction you had when you run into someone who thinks at a population level - disgust and fear. Because if I don't care about a couple of children, then clearly I don't care about you. Which is terrifying. It's ok, it's normal, but you need to understand.
At a population level, low vaccination rates are disastrous, and individuals don't matter - it's aggregate only. At an individual level, each individual matters. Even a handful of people getting sick is huge in that mind set. If you're looking at a whole population, who cares if a few sickly individuals die? It may even be good for the population as a whole because whatever's causing them to be sickly and weak is not being passed down to future generations. In the long view, at a population level, we are FAR better off if a small number of people get sick and remind the rest of the group WHY we have vaccines. The alternative is eventually a pandemic that kills millions and sickens hundreds of millions.
You can apply this population-level thinking to a lot of situations. It boils down to the classic ethical dilemma - do you flip the switch to move the train to kill the baby but spare the larger number of people on the other track? I fall onto the side of saving the larger number of people than the 1. Doesn't mean I won't mourn the 1, but in the abstract, I view 1 death to be a lessor tragedy than 100 deaths.
There have been cases where anti-vaxxers DID change their minds because their children got sick, and they've gone on to vaccinate as recommended. As a population, we've forgotten the great epidemics and pandemics of the past (at least in the US). I do not remember when polio was sweeping through the country, killing and paralyzing. I don't remember measles, or mumps, or whooping cough. I'm not old enough. Hardly anyone today is. The problem is that because we don't have that daily reminder, we also can forget why it matters and other, lessor concerns will dictate the decision. In other places that still have these diseases, mothers are desperate to get their children vaccinated. Because they know the cost if they don't - death, disability, deformity.
So yes, it would be better for the population if a handful of children get the measles to remind everyone else of the danger. If I pull it down to an individual level, I don't want the child(ren) to get sick. (I'd be ok with the mother getting sick though to punish her for her stupidity, but that's different, she's responsible.)
And no, I don't have amazing powers. Wish I did, cause that would be cool. :)