In Reply to: Re: One of the greatest achievements of humanity posted by Dr.J on August 10, 2026 at 15:49:29
vaccination is a form of defiance of authority instead of a common sense and cost-effective way to improve an individual's health.
Just today I found myself going back to the American Nations book I mentioned a couple of months ago and a telling discussion on religiosity between the people who originally settled in and spread out of New England and the ones who did the same out of the deep south.
The core idea was that the culture that grew out of the New England area sees religiosity as a responsibility to create paradise on earth. These are the people who like to build town squares, public library system, public schools, emphasise higher educatin etc. They tend to believe that how we act on this earth is a reflection of one's faith: this is the one thread that brings us civic mindedness as well as the insufferable moral crusaderes (as well as mormonism, but that's a separate story).
The people of the deep south, on the other hand, emphasize personal salvation over everything else. What matters is one's personal relation with Jesus and not their deeds. Not how they treat others, what acts they commit, but the faith they hold in their hearts. So there's no urgency to make world a better place, to build services that everyone would benefit from, etc etc.
It just occurred to me this morning that we can understand reactions to vaccination or action against epidemics along a similiar cultural divide. Vaccination and weatring a mask and staying at home in order to stop the spread of the disease is a civic-minded action. It says "we're in this together", while the free-dumb caucus emphasize personal choices. "It's our responsibility as individuals to make sure we don't get sick and that's all there is to it".
Just a thought.