Government and the Flu

[Guest guest]

- Deborah A Delp Found on mercola.com Government and the Flu: A Short History By William Anderson Last month, my wife decided to get flu shot for our children, but when shesaw the long lines that stretched around whole city blocks, she decided thateven if a flu shot were important, nothing could justify subjecting youngchildren to waiting for hours. We may try later--or we may not try at alland just hope we remain healthy this winter. Given the U.S. government’strack record on infectious diseases, perhaps my wife and children were thelucky ones. As readers of this page are certainly aware, the long line accompanying thegovernment’s "free" flu shots, as well as the vast supply shortfalls thatare visiting the vaccination centers, as whole communities have run out ofthe medicine. That long lines and shortages would accompany something thatthe government gives away at a zero money price (let’s cut out the talk thatthis is "free" medicine) is hardly a shock, except to journalists andpoliticians, who cannot seem to understand why we are facing such a state ofaffairs. Indeed, the fiasco that is the government’s current flu program isnothing more than a small picture of the larger fiasco that is governmenthealth care in general. The Government's Flu Program Fiasco The threat of influenza each year is real; about 36,000 people on averagedie yearly from the flu--and being that it is a disease, no one in thegovernment has figured a way to ban it or make the flu illegal (at leastwithout being an even bigger laughing stock than Washington, D.C., alreadyhas become). However, that alone does not justify what the government hasdone in the name of "protecting" individuals from the flu, as it is almostcertain that if flu shots can save lives, then people will die because thegovernment made it nearly impossible for them to receiving the necessaryvaccines. The rhetoric from some government officials (broadcast by an adoring media,of course) aside, it is instructive to see what has been done and why thegovernment is creating yet another health disaster. However, beforeexamining the present and sorry state of affairs, perhaps we need to take alonger look at the government’s track record here, starting with the veryreal flu pandemic of 1918 to 1919. The Spread of the 1918 to 1919 Flu Pandemic During the fall and winter of those years, an estimated 500,000 Americansdied of Spanish Influenza (as a percentage of today’s U.S. population, thatnumber would be about 1.4 million), and millions more died overseas. The fluoutbreak coincided with the last days and the immediate post-armistice daysof World War I, with government actions guaranteeing that the flu wouldspread rapidly. During an epidemic, one of the most important things is for those who areill to come into as little contact with others as possible. However, the U.SGovernment was crowding thousands of soldiers onto troop ships--manysoldiers already being ill--and shipped them back to the USA, which meantthat upon landing on U.S. shores, large numbers of soldiers had contractedthe flu, and then those soldiers went back to their homes and communities toinfect others. As if that were not enough, the government also was sponsoring large ralliesto sell war bonds, which meant that huge crowds of people would gather tohear celebrities like Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford urge people topurchase bonds to support the U.S. military effort. Of course, that alsomeant that people would be infecting others and the crowded conditions didthe rest. Ford Administration Calls for Mass Inoculation Fast forward to the winter of 1975-76, when the government decided that apossible pandemic of swine flu lay ahead. Anxious to find a possiblecampaign issue--and the Center for Disease Control equally desirous of beinga band of heroes--the Gerald Ford Administration jumped feet first intocalling for mass inoculation. Thus, the stage was set for one of thegreatest public health fiascoes ever. CDC director David Sencer managed to convince Ford and the press (whichalways likes a good story, true or not) that an epidemic to match the 1918and 1957 flu pandemics was in the making. Congress signed on to the fiascoand Ford called for every person in the USA to receive flu shots. Alas, government emergency medicine proved to be as bad as governmenteducation. Not only did an epidemic of swine flu (or any other flu) fail tomaterialize, but the vaccine proved to be worse than the disease, andthousands of people who received flu shots had serious side effects, withnearly 100 people dying. Sencer lost his job and Ford lost the 1976election--but the toxic combination of government and medicine apparentlywas lost on the political classes and their allies. The Goal of Mass Inoculation Remains Nearly 27 years later, the government still has not given up on its goal ofmass inoculation, and once again we have what can only charitably called amess. At best, this program will prevent perhaps a few deaths from the flu(if one can be sure that these flu shots actually will keep someone fromcontracting the illness); at worst, it will result in unnecessary deaths andillnesses as people’s immune systems react negatively to the vaccines – andpeople standing in long lines and crowds contract the flu from others inclose quarters. While it is tempting to write off this debacle to bureaucratic incompetence,one must remember that the "goals" of those in "public health" are muchdifferent than the individual goals of people who seek medical care. "Publichealth" officials like David Sencer think in collective, broad-brush termsof "saving" society (with the Sencers of the world being feted as the "greatheroes"). When such collective goals conflict with the personal goals ofindividuals, "society" must always prevail, according to the advocates of public health." Furthermore, actual results are secondary to "public health" officials; theywant to be seen as heroes who are "saving the nation" from pandemics, andthere is always an adoring press waiting to record and praise their everymove. (When these health crusades blow up to such an extent that they cannotbe covered up, then there are resignations and public humiliation. However,such pitfalls are quite rare.) About a decade ago, as the voting public began to sour on the excesses ofthe welfare state, the political classes repackaged welfare as "aid tochildren." A few years after Congress turned away legislative packagesproposed by Janet Reno’s Department of Justice that would have vastlyexpanded the federal criminal code and broken down the last walls ofconstitutional protection (then-Sen. John Ashcroft labeled Reno’s demands as"smacking of Big Brother"); in the months following the infamous 9/11attacks, suddenly Congress could not give the DOJ enough power, and Ashcroftdeclared that anyone who opposed the Patriot Act and other such legislationwas "giving aid and comfort" to "terrorists." For many years, U.S. jurors refused to award monetary judgments toplaintiffs in lawsuits against tobacco companies, viewing those individualsas responsible and moral creatures who willingly chose to use tobacco. Inthe name of "public health," however, legislators across the countrysystematically have stripped tobacco companies of their rights to defendthemselves--and in the process have, in effect, ended common law defenses byany individual or firm. (Since the U.S. Constitution forbids the impositionof "bills of attainder," then if tobacco companies are denied the right ofcommon law defenses, then in order to be "constitutional," the destructionof such defenses must necessarily be applied to everyone else.) Thus, the latest flu vaccination debacle is not about good health,preventative medicine, or protecting people from communicable diseases. Itis about the aggrandizement of the state, period, and the threat of aninfluenza outbreak is simply the hook that government officials use toexpand the powers of the political classes. All else is irrelevant. William Anderson, an adjunct scholar of the Mises Institute, teacheseconomics at Frostburg State University. -- VIAL (Vaccination Information and Liberation) For more information, pleasevisit http://www.VacInfo.org and Educate BEFORE You Vaccinate!!! YourChildren...Your Choice...Your Rights...