Roald Dahl's message to anti-vaxxers

[edhopper]

"Olivia, my eldest daughter, caught measles when she was seven years old. As the illness took its usual course I can remember reading to her often in bed and not feeling particularly alarmed about it. Then one morning, when she was well on the road to recovery, I was sitting on her bed showing her how to fashion little animals out of coloured pipe-cleaners, and when it came to her turn to make one herself, I noticed that her fingers and her mind were not working together and she couldn’t do anything.
'Are you feeling all right?' I asked her.
'I feel all sleepy,' she said.
In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead.
The measles had turned into a terrible thing called measles encephalitis and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her. That was...in 1962, but even now, if a child with measles happens to develop the same deadly reaction from measles as Olivia did, there would still be nothing the doctors could do to help her. On the other hand, there is today something that parents can do to make sure that this sort of tragedy does not happen to a child of theirs. They can insist that their child is immunised against measles.
...I dedicated two of my books to Olivia, the first was ‘James and the Giant Peach’. That was when she was still alive. The second was ‘The BFG’, dedicated to her memory after she had died from measles. You will see her name at the beginning of each of these books. And I know how happy she would be if only she could know that her death had helped to save a good deal of illness and death among other children."
Roald Dahl, 1986

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I would hope that this message would resonate with the anti-vaxxers--but somehow I doubt it.

They are so firmly attached to their delusions that even the death of a child might not make any difference to them.

I hope I'm wrong.

[Beakybird]

4. Even the death of their own child wouldn't cause them to break ranks.

[Ms. Toad]

6. I have little hope it will resonate with those who have decided not to vaccinate.

I hope it resonates on DU with those who are still insisting we have no responsibility to use layers of protection (i.e. masking and social distancing) on top of vaccination in order to protect those who cannot yet protect themselves with vaccinations.

In theory, at least, we still care - although I have seen less and less evidence of it recently.

[paleotn]

8. Unfortunately, you're not wrong.

Most anti-vaxxers just don't care. They don't care to the point of threatening the lives of their own children.

[gratuitous]

2. The little details are just heartbreaking

Could you look at pipe-cleaners ever again without thinking of your little girl: "I feel all sleepy."

[NewJeffCT]

9. yeah, same here

that poor girl and the horrors her mother & father must have felt.

[Hekate]

3. If only... if only all those mamas who got sucked into the vile anti-vaxxer cult could read this...

They love their children and only want what’s best for them, but they have been lied to — and they are too young to have witnessed what we old grandmas lived through. 💔

[frogmarch]

5. So moving and heartbreaking!

Nothing will convince antivaxxers to get vaccines. Nothing. Not even the death of a loved one - or fear for themselves. Stupid bastards.

I learned that Roald Dahl pronounced Roald "ROO all" (silent d) which rhymes with "YOU all." Rooall Doll.

[struggle4progress]

7. .

[ChazII]

10. If I had known this when I was still

teaching I would have included this information for my students.

[FakeNoose]

11. The ones who are anti-vax and also ultra-religious

... will tell you, "It's God's will that your child dies young."

If they aren't ultra-religious but maybe hyper-anxious, they'll tell you, "The vaccine causes autism," or some other nonsense.

If they aren't hyper-anxious, but maybe ultra-conservative, they'll tell you, "The libs want to micro-chip your child," or some other nonsense.

None of them can give a good reason for being anti-vax. That is all.

[calimary]

13. Oh that old "it's God's will" justification.

I suspect the thinking here is - if you hang it on God, then it’s unchallengeable.

That would be severely WRONG thinking, but I’d bet that’s how they’re trying to manipulate public perception.

[FakeNoose]

14. Oh sure, we have a lot of Amish people in Pennsylvania

They aren't very political, but they refuse to wear masks or get vaccinated.
If someone gets sick or dies, "It's God's will," they say.

[Tommymac]

25. The Amish are fools when it comes to reality and always have been.

Ignorance spread for centuries.

I for one don't find their culture amusing, interesting or valid. They milk it for $$$$ from gullible tourists.

IMO they represent the dark side of blind faith. They personify willful ignorance.

Their example, and other like groups that promote ignorance and denial of SCIENCE are the historical foundation Q has built it's house of deadly killer cards on.

[cab67]

15. It's not that simple

The anti-vaxx movement as a whole doesn't live entirely on the left or the right, unlike most other anti-scientific attitudes. Many of the most prominent anti-vaxx celebrities (e.g. Jim Carrey, RFK Jr) are neither evangelical nor politically conservative. Along with the religious conservatives who oppose vaccines, you'll also find people who distrust "Big Pharma" to the degree that they refuse more or less all modern pharmaceuticals, people who are really into "natural" healing, and others who can be found, at least in part, on the political left.

That being said, the pendulum is swinging, and COVID is a big part of that. Republicans are less likely to get a COVID vaccine for the simple reason that it's seen as a leftist hoax.

[TexasBushwhacker]

16. Jim Carrey is anti-vax because he dated Jenny McCarthy

for 5 years. He also believes in the "Law of Attraction" BS. I like his artwork though.

[Tommymac]

26. I have never thought he was funny or smart. He can go f himself for all I care.

Should not be a role model or spokesperson for anything - needs to be put in a corner and ignored.

Same with JM - she is ugly in my opinion, another MSM built fake icon.

[NullTuples]

12. Given his antisemitism, this NEEDS to be passed on to that crowd

Last edited Tue Jul 20, 2021, 10:52 AM - Edit history (1)

Am I trying to save them? No, I'm trying to save everyone else; they are just the vehicle with which to do so.

Note: The title originally said, "anti- antisemitism" due to a editing error by me, thus the replies by people telling me of my mistake. My apologies.

[Lord Ludd]

17. Anti-antisemitism means opposition to anti-semitism

Are you implying that Roald Dahl was NOT an anti-semite?

His family seems to think he was.

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/06/943698406/roald-dahl-family-apologizes-for-childrens-authors-anti-semitism

[NullTuples]

20. Thank you! Roald Dahl is well-documented to be an antisemite.

I did not mean to type the double negative.

[Hekate]

22. And how is that factoid relevant to the discussion at hand?

[murielm99]

18. When I was growing up, we did not have

measles or chicken pox vaccines. I am glad they have them now.

There was a chlld in our community who developed measles encephalitis. She remained in a vegetative state for a few years, then she died. Her family cared for her at home. They could not afford a nursing home. It was a tragic situation.

Another child, a boy, ended up with brain damage and complications from chickenpox. He died young, too. His father was the school superintendent here. We are friends with the family.

Families today should thank science that we have made these medical advances. I have seen two families heartbroken by the consequences of disease complications.

[skorpo]

19. Measles encephalitis left my friend's sister with life long handicaps.

In 1954, she was 6 years old and caught measles. She suffered with both physical & intellectual handicaps for 60 years. Her wonderful family, both sisters and brothers, helped her parents care for her as long as they could. As she aged this disease continued to worsen until she needed custodial care.
Sadly, we had few vaccines then. Everyone I knew jumped at the chance to be innoculated for contagious diseases when they became available.
Most younger people never caught small pox, measles, DPT or polio because their parents had them vaccinated.
My younger brother will not believe me when I tell him about how people suffered and died from these diseases. I worry about him and his family.

[Withywindle]

23. I'm so grateful to have been a child when vaccines were appreciated

I'm Gen X, born in 1969 and got the whole round of all the vaccines available at the time before I started kindergarten in 1974. (Just missed the cutoff for the smallpox vaccine. I don't have that scar on my upper arm)

My parents knew so many peers who had died or been maimed for life by polio, measles, rubella, etc. They were so glad to get me protected from that when I was little. I am thankful. I don't understand fear of vaccines - vaccines are amazing.

I'm a huge fan of old graveyards, aesthetically, and I want to march every anti-vax person through a big 19th century cemetery and point out just how many graves of children there are. There are a LOT. Thousands in the big city ones. Children died way more often than adults back then. Most of those children died of diseases that are preventable by vaccines now

[Ziggysmom]

21. I remember over 50 years ago a relative had a congenital Rubella syndrome baby.

He was microcephalic, deaf, blind and died within 2 years due to severe heart defects. It could have been prevented if the vaccine had been available to the mother back then. Our family has always been pro vaccine. After all these years I still remember how that poor baby and the family suffered.

We dont get vaccinated only for ourselves; we do it because we love the people around us, even those we have not met. Getting vaccinated is a sIgn of LOVE

[AZ8theist]

24. Wakefied should be imprisoned for LIFE for the destruction he's caused.

And ANYBODY who get their medical advise from the IMBECILE Jenny McCarthy should be put in an insane asylum until they are dead.

UN FUCKING BELIEVABLE HOW FUCKING STUPID THESE PEOPLE ARE.

Too bad this site isn't maintained anymore:

https://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com/

[AllaN01Bear]

27. as someone pointed out in this thread , they only give a hoot , hoot , hoot about themselves .