Liberal Social Darwinism In Action

I think it was our pal Charles Kesler who once remarked that “Social Darwinism” was the only kind of Darwinism that liberals oppose, though to be sure it is actually the progressive left that the label “Social Darwinism” fits most accurately. In any case, the liberals of Seattle seem determined to give Darwinian survival of the fittest a good workout. From NPR this week:

Washington State Officials Declare State Of Emergency As Measles Outbreak Continues

Health officials in Washington have declared a state of emergency and are urging immunization as they scramble to contain a measles outbreak in two counties, while the number of cases of the potentially deadly virus continues to climb in a region with lower-than-normal vaccination rates.

How much lower than normal? This much lower:

Seattle Kids Have Lower Polio Vaccination Rate Than Rwanda

[I]n Seattle, . . . 81.4 percent of kindergarteners have been vaccinated for polio. That’s lower than the 2013 polio immunization rates for 1-year-olds in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Algeria, El Salvador, Guyana, Sudan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Yemen, among other countries, according to data from the World Health Organization.

Nice going Seattle. I know there are some conservatives who are anti-vaxxers, but the overwhelming majority are lefties (Marin County has the lowest child vaccination rate in California) who in their next breath—though it might be their last breath—also tell you they believe in “science.” In fact:

Parents who don’t vaccinate kids tend to be affluent, better educated, experts say

Vaccines are universally backed by respected scientists and federal agencies, but that isn’t enough to convince every parent to vaccinate their children.

The decision to fly in the face of near universal scientific opinion doesn’t come as a result of a lack of intellect, however, as experts who have studied vaccines and immunology acknowledge that many parents who don’t vaccinate their children are well-educated.

Daniel Salmon, who is the director of the Institute of Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins University, said that existing research suggests that there are some common attributes that many parents who choose not to vaccinate their children share.

“They tend to be better educated. They tend to be white, and they tend to be higher income. They tend to have larger families and they tend to use complementary and alternative medicine like chiropractors and naturopaths,” Salmon said.

More proof that if “better educated” means you have a degree from an American university, you’re more likely to be an idiot than a deplorable Trump voter.

This is sure to end well.

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