Today I think I saw a half a dozen posts about the current Measles outbreak, 3 posts about kids and gun safety, one warning about the laundry detergent pods.
Ok folks lets get realistic. The "Great Vaccine Debate" is going to rage on. The Anti Vaxxers aren't going to just suddenly say "Oops... We made a mistake. Never mind. Lets all get out kids vaccinated" Not going to happen. I don't happen to agree with them, and think their behavior is irresponsible. I'm sorry their children are going to suffer because they're stubborn, and in some cases downright moronic. There is absolutely no basis in science for their claims of harm from vaccines. That being said, I believe that as misguided as they are, the have the right to decide what's right for their families. But they do not have the right to force the rest of the sane world to deal with the ramifications of their decision. Decide you don't want to vaccinate your kids, fine. But don't bring them out in public where they become a vector to infect the rest of us. Don't expect your insurance, or public assistance to pay for incidences of illness that could've and should've been prevented by you vaccinating your child. Prepare to homeschool your child. I do agree that there are exceptions, for example the child that is allergic to a vaccine, one who is too young to be vaccinated, or has an illness that makes vaccination unsafe. But misguided thoughts that vaccines cause autism, or that the illness has beem eradicated and vaccines are unnecessary, and or that they are a ploy by vaccine manufacturers and physicians to make money is just ridiculous, not to mention dangerous.
The Anti Gun folk, are going to bash guns and blame them for whatever they see fit that day. You're not going to change their mind. I see all the joke posts on Facebook and similar social media about guns being at home all day alone and not killing anyone. Well, it is true. Guns don't kill people. Irresponsible people with guns kill other people. There have been several incidents in the news lately of people being "accidentally" shot by their own gun when it was inadvertently fired by their own child. I firmly believe these were not "accidents". the defintion is an unexpected act that is not planned or intended, an incident that occurs by chance. Having a loaded gun with a round in the chamber that is unsecured and in an area accessible by children (or anyone not properly trained in the use of firearms for that matter) and having the trigger be pulled by said child or individual isn't unexpected. Children touch EVERYTHING. Yes, the incidents are unfortunate, and were not intenede, but you cannot claim that the outcome was unexpected. Firearms need to be properly secured when not being handled by someone properly trained.
Laundry detergent pods causing illness when ingested by children.... Huge shocker. People are up in arms and upset and want the manufacturer to change the design to make them less attractive to children. What??? What's wrong with you supervising your children? Or not putting stuff like that where your child can reach it. I totally that you cannot have eyes on your child each and every moment of each and every day. But supervison and educating your child goes a long way. My child was always very active, but never got into chemicals under the sink, never tried to eat laundry detergent, never stuck his fingers or anything else in a light socket, never drowned or almost drowned in our swimming pool, despite having easy access to all of these things. Do I think it was just luck or random chance that my child never did these things? Nope. I supervised my child, and taught him what was and what wasn't ok. (For the record, he also never shot me, himself or anything else despite the fact that we had guns in the house. Because they were secured, and never left loaded where he could see or reach them.
I see a huge problem these days with personal responsibility. I see it at the grocery store, and at the Mart of Wal, or just about every public place where I go when people don't supervise their children properly, where people don't put their shopping carts back in the store or in the cart corrals, where people throw their trash wherever they feel like, where they exceed the posted speed limit despite the fact that road conditions warrant a serious slow down. I see it daily in how people treat eachother, and in the disrespect that is shown on a routine basis. I see it at work where people abuse the medical system, and don't take responsibility for their health, at the expense of others.
When did these kind of values become commonplace? When did it become acceptable for these values to be so pervasive in our society? How long is it going to be acceptable to behave like this?
