Path: ...!3.eu.feeder.erje.net!feeder.erje.net!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail
From: Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom
Subject: Re: idiots walk among us
Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2025 21:45:48 -0800
Organization: home user
Lines: 40
Message-ID: <robertaw-9199F5.21454808032025@news.individual.net>
References: <0001HW.2D7BB48800F8D22B70000998A38F@news.supernews.com> <vqh2n1$2tjk$1@dont-email.me> <vqhnj4$6sfh$1@dont-email.me> <vqhsp6$5pq$1@reader1.panix.com>
X-Trace: individual.net yWvAe1oY2t/O/NYPh+kRXQhunxpVysK0FStxuZuNkqXeuwWA4t
X-Orig-Path: robertaw
Cancel-Lock: sha1:njqnOuPAoegjsCcNvEMYFJtJfIk= sha256:Zt2SQDKMHbV3rDEkG9T6oboC1KShehqDUpmCohn4Hdc=
User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.5.2 (Intel Mac OS X)
Bytes: 2645

In article <vqhsp6$5pq$1@reader1.panix.com>,
 jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

> In article <vqhnj4$6sfh$1@dont-email.me>,
> Gary McGath  <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
> >On 3/8/25 4:30 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:
> >> On 3/7/25 6:11 PM, WolfFan wrote:
> >>> https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/marjorie-taylor-greene-promotes-
> >>> measles-parties-for-kids-amid-deadly-outbreaks/ar-AA1At4JL
> >>>
> >>> you can’t make this up. If someone tried to put this into the plot of a
> >>> work of SF, any competent editor would reject it as too stupid to allow
> >>> suspension of disbelief.
> >>>
> >> 
> >> You do realize that these were a thing back in the 1950s and 1960s, 
> >> right?  So if someone is writing an SF work set in that era, it would be 
> >> perfectly accurate.
> >
> >Measles parties in that time were held on the assumption that the 
> >disease was so widespread that every child would get it, so they might 
> >as well get it at a convenient time when they can plan for it. I'm not 
> >saying it was a good idea, but it was less crazy than having such 
> >parties in the current world, where the disease is comparatively rare.
> >
> >Greene's idea seems to be that it should be made into an epidemic so 
> >that the survivors will have herd immunity.
> >
> It would have the advantage that measles resets immunities, which means
> when bird flu jumps to humans, the resulting US pandemic should be more
> exciting.

US Pandemic!? If bird flu jumps to humans on that scale, the entire 
world population will be part of the excitement.

-- 
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
‹-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com