this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
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Not arguing against the substance of the article, but I can’t help but wonder if this is the best way to address this issue. Measles was eradicated from the US but is now back and has claimed lives purely due to vaccine skepticism. I just worry that yet another article criticizing the FDA for pushing drugs that aren’t safe/effective will do more harm than good at this point. Idk, I just sincerely question if now is the time to give americans more reasons not to trust medical professionals. (Again, not arguing with the substance of the article—very disappointing and disturbing that FDA is doing this—but just concerned about the time, manner, and place of this criticism.)
Both can be true.
It can be true that the FDA was corrupted/captured to some extent and needs more 'skeptial' and less-industry-friendly leadership. At the same time, skepticism in science is not the answer.
This is my dillema with MAGA. Many of the issues they tackle are spot on, even if people don't like to hear that. They're often right, even when the proposed solutions are wrong and damaging. I think this a lot when I hear RFK speak, nodding my head at the first assertion then grinding my teeth as he goes on.
This is such an important thing to note. The MAGA set aren't completely oblivious. It's the same issue with how they don't trust "mainstream media," the problem doesn't lie in accepting that media must be viewed with skepticism and critical thinking, the problem lies with the critical thinking ending at "I can't trust the mainstream media."
What the MAGAs are actually practicing is cynicism not skepticism. They have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Because they have realized some sources aren't always entirely trustworthy, they stop trusting them entirely and instead listen to random jackholes on the internet. It's actually an abdication of critical thinking. Just flat out rejection instead of reading with a critical eye and skeptical mind.
They also don't apply the same attitude to those random sources they use instead. That is really the biggest problem with their approach. Literally going "you can't trust anyone any more" would be better than what they do.
Yeah that’s absolutely how they lure people in. Sensible issues to be concerned about, starts out normal, then about two links of thought in, the tinfoil hats come out and the solution is fucking nuts.
What are the issues they are "right" about?
That election companies cannot be trusted, but the deniers were careful to not approach this scientifically or convincingly. Offering instead pseudo science and illogical schemes done by madmen. Because of this they set back the paper vote movements by decades in some states.
Another thing that draws them followers is that tens of thousands of small towns have died economically, in the last three decades, but no programs to help them, and no sympathy in the large cities
Tens of thousands?
Unincorporated towns in Texas is 4k, I would guess the number of very unincorporated is a ratio of 2:1 nation wide I am not sure.
But using some rough math , and being incredibly stubborn to prove my point, that brings the total number up to 60k, of which 1/3 ( maybe) have seen economic hardship
You are guessing at numbers and figures now.
Can you find any statistics to look at? California as an example has about a million people living in unincorporated area. But that includes forests and other natural sites in it.
Where can i find that 4k unicorporated texas towns information?
I know the Texas count is accurate, I looked it up. I was too lazy and uninspired to look at other states. However I would be surprised if it were not at least half the corporate areas, nationally in total?
I'm trying to find any kind of statistics on the number of unicorporated towns, i cant find any, can you point me in a direction? Wiki article? Texas gov site? Federal gov site?
I'm not doubting your 4k number. It got me curious as to how many unincorporated towns there are.
Since texas is approx 30mil people and largest state land wise (unless alaska is bigger?)
I dont think your 60k number holds up. I think your rough math was completely off, but you could be right. Having a hard time getting anywhere finding out those numbers.
I'm not asking you to go look, I'm just asking for a place I can start looking.
Edit: when i say statistics a simple counted number or approximation, or just a list of town names is all i need
Now you hit me curious too. This was my source on Texas https://www.texasalmanac.com/place-types/town
Also the total number of total towns is over 4,000 with only 3k unincorporated, I did get the numbers wrong even in Texas.
I had looked at Wikipedia but could not find totals, only lists
How are they right about election fraud? Specifically voting.
Gerrymandering is a disgusting in the US, but that's not election companies, that's politicians not the election companies.
Dominion has been cleared of the fraudulent claims so that doesn't hold up as evidence
So many states have problems with exit polls being correct , that all the major broadcasters and news agencies, in the USA, stopped using them a few years ago to predict many races.
Exit polls are used elsewhere reliably to detect large scale manipulation of ballots, and have been used by the United Nations. They used to work in the USA
Mail in ballot counting is reliable. This leaves electronic ballots as the only means to change that many votes. Indeed, if you look at states that use more traditional methods of counting their exit polls generally are accurate.
In addition many states fail other statistical tests that are also used to detect cheating in the primaries for both parties and general races.
Based on statistical tests that have been accepted worldwide for generations there is cheating happening. This is ignored by both parties and the vast majority of people .
In my opinion nothing was proved that these counting companies have accurate results. This is because most of what they do is hidden by trade secrets. And the USA has a lack of recounts that do not use these very systems.
So then the problem is exit polls, not voting gotcha.
If there is something wrong with exit polls thats not the same thing as votes.
That difference is essential to understand isnt it? Votes didn't have to change for exit polls to be manipulated.
And the entire hanging Chad bull shit from gore/bush should never have happened either. Paper solves nothing in this instance.
Corruption of media and political groups sure, that's a problem... Everywhere though.
Exit polls are voluntary, and are internally prone to people lying.
You jumping to "votes got changed" needs to be verified. And the voting systems themselves were not found to have been manipulated. That leaves polling stations/systems needing to be checked... Not just the reporting on those exit polls.
Regardless, I'm not trying to change your opinion on whether you think votes were changed, the point your claim that MAGA got this right has no evidence, just opinion.
They also got vaccines wrong, abortion wrong, masking wrong.
I'm truly sorry you feel they got these things right.
I’m a paper ballot and small town guy, I’m not a mega and my life was saved by vaccines. Also I indirectly help people get abortions ( I live in Texas). In all actuality I’m closer to being a communist than anything else.
So, if people can agree that exit polls are off, the next question is why?
If you look at the history of exit polling they are only off, in a historical sense, when there is mass ballot stuffing.
So that leaves either there is cheating or somehow Americans are so exceptional they overturn precedent.
And don’t forget the other stats tests. One of them which sorts the precincts by size and compares the percentage of votes each candidate received. It should be a kind of line. In California it is, in many other states it is not.
So not only do Americans have to be unique, in one way. They have to be exceptional in other ways to explain the other tests, used over the works fur generations.
All of this while the hidden counting of ballots is going on, without enough recounts .
Occam’s razor and all that.
It's tricky. Part of the problem, I think, is if you do have corruption and carelessness in something like the FDA, there's no amount of careful reporting that can fix it - it becomes propaganda.
It's necessary to address the problems, though I still agree with being careful about what information is broadcast and how - but it's necessary to keep information open and challenge things otherwise you end up worse down the line. A measles epidemic is bad. But imagine if you suppressed thalidomide results and other failures, allowing things to get worse and worse in the name of not damaging people's trust, then eventually (after years of covered-up harm) it all comes out and people abandon scientific medicine altogether!
You don't have to imagine... I'm sure a large component of both vaccine skepticism and Trump's presidency have come because of suppressed and partially-suppressed wrongdoing by all the people we think the country should trust. Eventually people break and look for something else.
So, I agree with you, but in my opinion we do need to work more, not less, at transparency and truth even when it's problematic.