In Praise of Science (and Common Sense)

As many of you know, I grew up in the 1950s. Some people today like to remember it as the 'good old days,' but that oversimplifies how life actually was. Yes, in many ways, it was a much more innocent time. But it was also a scary time. It was the era of the Cold War, when we feared that we could be attacked by the Soviets at any time. (Remember "Duck and Cover" drills?) And it was also when polio was terrorizing the country. Back then, polio was often called "infantile paralysis," since most of its victims were children. In 1952, there was such a severe outbreak that more than 57,000 contracted the disease, and more than 3,000 died.     

But then, a scientist named Jonas Salk changed everything. Salk was the son of immigrants, a brilliant student who entered college when he was just fifteen. He was fascinated by medical research, and after graduating from medical school and getting his MD in 1939, he focused on developing a vaccine for polio. It took many years and many experiments, but finally, he succeeded. And in 1955, there was a vaccine for polio, and millions of lives were saved as a result.

Soon, other vaccines were developed, and they addressed a wide range of diseases: for example, the measles vaccine came along in the mid-1960s, and it was greeted enthusiastically, because prior to this vaccine, hundreds of kids died from measles every year. In fact, thanks to the availability of this and other vaccines, measles was declared to be eliminated in the US in the year 2000. Back then, getting vaccinated was not considered controversial: it was widely accepted that parents would want their kids to have access, because vaccines saved lives. 

Most Americans had great respect for science, and with good reason. After all, it was an era that saw numerous medical advances. In addition to vaccines, there were new medicines to treat illnesses that had killed people in previous generations. There were better and more effective treatments for burns. There were advances in detection of certain kinds of cancers-- this was crucial because early detection often saved lives. (I am the personal beneficiary of early detection: in 2014, my doctors were able to detect a tumor that turned out to be cancerous. They were able to operate on it before the cancer had spread, something that would have been impossible only a few decades earlier.)   

I don't know what happened. I don't know how we became a society where in many parts of the country, parents are intentionally letting their kids get measles, or questioning childhood vaccines. I don't know why our Department of Health and Human Services is now led by people who portray medical science as something that can't be trusted. Even the Center for Disease Control now promotes long-debunked myths. We used to be so hopeful and optimistic about what medical science could do; now, we are led by people who tell us that medical science is dangerous. 

All I know is if it weren't for advances in medical science, I wouldn't be here. Neither would millions of Americans who know from firsthand experience that vaccines save lives, or who know that advances in the detection and treatment of various diseases should be praised-- not feared. I don't want to live in a world where measles or polio make a comeback. I don't want to live in a world where lifesaving treatments are no longer available. And yet, that's the direction we seem to be heading. And I don't understand why so many people seem okay with it. I'm not okay with it. I hope you're not either. And I hope enough people will speak up before the gains we've made are reversed-- to the detriment of us all. 

Thinking About the Children

I was reading my local newspaper the other day and came upon an article that really bothered me. It was about the president of the College Republicans at Boston University: he was bragging that he had called ICE to report some workers at a nearby car wash for being "criminals" who have "no right to be here." He seemed almost gleeful about the fact that ICE did in fact raid the car wash, and the workers had been arrested. He expressed his hope that this would happen to more of them, since they were taking away American jobs, he said, concluding with an exhortation to ICE to "Pump up the numbers."  

Of course, there were several problems with the young man's version of events, the most notable one being that there was no evidence the men were "criminals." In fact, there was no evidence they were here illegally. He just saw them, noted their ethnicity, and made the assumption they didn't belong here. (As it turned out, the car wash manager and the attorneys for several of the men noted they were here legally, but it didn't matter. They were still arrested and detained.) And proving that irony isn't dead, the young man who was gloating about their plight was himself an immigrant, from England. Was he taking away the opportunity for an American student to attend Boston University? Who can say?   

As you know, I've been a professor for more than three decades, and whenever I encounter college students behaving badly, my first thought is  "What kind of parents does this kid have?" I understand that when kids go away to school, they can pick up some new beliefs. But often, these kids are still reflecting the attitudes they learned at home. Perhaps his parents are saints and they always taught him kindness. But then again, perhaps not. I do think it's worth asking where this kid got the idea that one should rejoice in another's misfortune. And where did he get the idea that every person with darker skin than his must surely be a "criminal"? This seems like a useful conversation to have.

I've lamented in other posts what I see as a lack of courtesy in the culture at large: kids (of all ages) who don't say please or thank you, kids who seem to feel that they are entitled to a good grade, kids who think it's okay to mock and bully anyone who is different. Maybe they see this sort of behavior from their elders and think it must be okay. Lord knows there is plenty of rudeness and nastiness online; and in real life, I'm sure we've all run into folks who take out their bad mood on anyone around them. (I was at a coffee shop recently and I saw someone yell at the clerk because there wasn't any Sweet and Low. As a cancer survivor, I thought to myself that if the worst thing in this person's life is a lack of Sweet and Low, their life ain't so bad...)

Meanwhile, I really hope that parents in general are taking the time to teach their kids courtesy. And I also hope they are teaching their kids it's never okay to be scornful or judgmental about anyone who is different. We seem to be living in a world when some folks think cruelty towards "the other" should be praised; but it's not too late to let kids know that compassion is a good quality, and making assumptions about people you don't know is no way to live your life. I've never met the kid who was bragging that he got some immigrants arrested, but as I said, gloating over another's problems is not a good look for anyone. And while I've never met his parents either, all I can say is, "Teach your children well," because parents are often the first role models kids have, and kids will emulate what the grown-ups around them say and do.