A Deadly Epidemic, More Dangerous Than Ebola

There are many diseases afflicting the world today.  Some have immediate and horrifying consequences while others may seem benign until it’s too late to do anything about them.  Health authorities stumble around, looking for ways to protect the populations, but run into barriers of cost, politics, human and constitutional rights.  We don’t know what deadly epidemic to be more afraid of, or whether some unknown ailment is going to do us in.

There are many frightful things that we’re aware of.  Ebola is highly contagious, and President Obama refuses to close the American border to people from the most affected regions of West Africa.  He’s even sent troops to help combat the disease, but with questionable protection they may be infected, or at least carriers when they return home.

The fast-spreading respiratory virus EVD68 sent over a thousand otherwise healthy children to hospital in a short period, killing a dozen.  The disease can be lethal and fast: a mother put her healthy four-year-old to bed, and he was dead by morning.  Many suspect that the flood of Central American children Obama allowed into the U.S. played a large role in the sudden spread of the disease.  They’re probably wrong.

Chagas disease is being called ‘the new AIDS.’  Spread by a bug that defecates a parasite into the victims’ bloodstream while

they’re asleep, it can lie dormant for decades before causing serious cardiac, esophagus or colon problems.  It is endemic to Mexico, Central America, and South America, where an estimated eight million people have the illness, most of whom do not know they are infected.  If untreated, infection is lifelong and can be life threatening.  It was once largely limited to Latin America, but now the illness is spreading north because of travel and immigration.  It’s estimated that four hundred thousand Americans are currently infected.

Smallpox was devastating to the American Indians, who possessed no immunity to the disease imported by early European colonists.  Populations were decimated, societies thrown into disarray.  In Europe the Black Death of the 14^th century had similar effects.  Many say the plague was largely responsible for the collapse of feudalism.  Interestingly, some contemporary researchers have argued that the Black Death was Ebola, rather than bubonic plague.  The latter travelled too slowly, and the former matches the old descriptions of the

symptoms of the Black Death.

The Subtle Deadly Epidemic

There’s a much more subtle epidemic afflicting the world in the twenty-first century.  Like Chagas, many victims don’t realize they’ve been infected; there are no clear symptoms.  Yet just as the Black Death led to the end of feudalism, this plague can weaken, perhaps even bring an end to our contemporary society.

And of course, there are those who try to profit from it- not big drug companies, not insurance companies, but the people who create the policies by which America is run.  ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber said that the law was written in such a way as to take advantage of “the stupidity of the American voter.”

In the 2008 elections, Americans elected a young president with no job experience and few accomplishments to his name.  They made a man with no military experience into the Commander In Chief of what was, at the time, the world’s most powerful armed forces.  Their alternative was a war hero, decorated for his selflessness, with a long, distinguished career in government.  Obama’s track record as President is as distinguished as his list of accomplishments before becoming leader of the free world.

According to some polls Canada may be poised to elect a Prime Minister who’s done even less than Barack Obama, whose CV stops short at acting, substitute teaching, and leading a major political party.  A politician who is so shallow that he fulfilled the technical requirements of becoming a Muslim while visiting a mosque.  A would-be Prime Minister who wants Canada’s contribution to the fight against ISIS to be limited to advising their victims how to keep warm in winter.  Tell them how to use a blanket while they wait to be raped or beheaded.  It’s ludicrous, but  Justin Trudeau is ahead in the polls.

In the November 4^th election, voters in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, DC, approved marijuana legalization, joining Oregon, Washington State, Colorado and others in making it legally safe to toke.  It’s not news that stoned people are less capable of making informed decisions than sober people.  Losing the ability to make informed decisions, perhaps permanently, doesn’t seem to be a concern to voters.

And how is it that Christianity (whether the Church of England, the Catholic Church, German churches, or others), which is under attack from Muslims throughout the world, dedicates so much effort to extending the hand of peace to Islam?

In 1964, the state of Louisiana implemented a voter literacy test, with the purpose of disqualifying black voters.  The test was deliberately obscure and poorly worded, requiring a score of 100% to pass.  In 2014 the test was administered to a group of Harvard University students.  None of them would have been allowed to vote in 1964 Louisiana; they all failed.

In 2014, Jesse Watters asked ordinary Americans questions posed to new citizens about the basics of the American government; most were stumped.  What do the 13 stripes on the flag represent?  How many Senators are there?  Who was President of the United States during World War II?  Answers to the last one ranged from Ronald Reagan to George Washington.  Three out of twelve people passed the standard citizenship test.

The deadly epidemic is clearly out of control.  Stupidity is rampant.  It’s not just a matter of genetics, lack of education, too much alcohol or marijuana.  Stupidity is also a disease, or at least a viral condition.  An innocuous microorganism, previously known to affect green algae, was found to affect cognitive functions including visual processing and spatial awareness.   “Of the 90 participants in the study, 40 tested positive for the algae virus.  Those who tested positive performed worse on tests designed to measure the speed and accuracy of visual processing. They also achieved lower scores in tasks designed to measure attention.”  Or, as The Independent put it, it’s a virus that infects human brains and makes us more stupid.  (This is not a joke; it’s real)

This possibly explains why seemingly normal people think that George Washington was President of the U.S. during World War II.  Why many people support a potential Prime Minister who wants to teach people who are being raped, sold into slavery, or beheaded, how to use a blanket.  Why the architect of Obamacare knew he could count on the stupidity of the American public to get his legislation through.

The deadly epidemic has the potential to destroy our way of life.  Firstly, stupid people will not be able to create the art, develop the technology, and build the cities that have advanced our civilization, improved our health, and lengthened our days.  Stupid people will demand that governments spend money it doesn’t have, while lowering taxes.  They can’t understand that arithmetic has universal relevance; governments aren’t exempt.

They will make bad decisions about what to eat, going along with every appealing food fad.  They’ll reject vaccines, based on simplistic pseudo-science.  They’ll campaign against the fossil fuels that power their cars, heat their homes, and are made into ubiquitous plastics.  They’ll oppose animal testing for new drugs, even when that means potential lifesaving medicines are delayed for years, or kept entirely off the market because they can’t be proven safe.

If stupidity is a disease, then we can’t hold people responsible for their actions.  It provides another justification for expanding the social safety net.  Making dumb choices in one’s life will be just another sign of a disability, another excuse for doing nothing with one’s life.

Is there a cure for the stupidity virus?  We can’t look at the Centre for Disease Control for assurance, if we judge them according to their response to Ebola.  If we were conspiracy theorists, which we’re not, we could speculate that the CDC is actively spreading this deadly epidemic in order to help the administration advance its agenda.

Our society is facing viral stupidity, genetic stupidity and willful stupidity– ignoring truth in order to reach the ideologically correct response.  The bad decision making by ordinary citizens, the selective truths promoted by the media, the absurd agendas of politicians, western civilization seems headed towards dissolution and darkness.

Is there something we can do?  Vigilance seems to be the only non-medical response.  We can guard against willful stupidity and our own bad choices.

 

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