Common COVIDiocy: Is Vaccine Hesitancy Due to Lack of Education? New Studies Sheds Light on Why

According to Edzard Ernst, citing a study by the Austrian Science Ministry, anti-vaxxers are across all age groups, gender, and so on. There is only one consistent characteristic: the vaccination rate is strongly related to the level of education. 

The other interesting thing to point out is that people who were formerly from Romania or Russia are the least likely to vaccinate, and such low rates are not observed among the other immigrant groups. The hesitancy may be attributed somewhat to the lack of trust in the government, despite living in a new jurisdiction. 

Is the problem as simple as simply educating the folks though? Is it as simple as using a slogan: "Those who know nothing must believe everything"?  

(Sounds like a variation on "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything" but I digress)

Which reminded me of an antivaxxer I met in real life. My job and my social circle don't tend to intersect with antivaxxers, except for one thing... 

A few years ago (before COVID), I took Lyft to work almost daily, and as a result, I met a lot of drivers with a lot of different views. One day, I met a black antivaxxer as my driver. He was listening to a radio talk show about anti-vaccine views, and they kept bringing up Tuskegee Study. 

(If you didn't know, the doctors back in 1932 chose NOT to treat syphilis in some black men without telling them, just to observe how far the disease can go. This was unethical and later the US government made formal apologies as well as created compensation funds and provided health coverage to the participant survivors, their spouses, and their children. )

So I asked him how much does he believe in this stuff. Turns out he's pretty far in, laced with a dose of black power, Illuminati (of old white men), and so on. I basically just listened, and try not to react because much of it really make no sense to me.  

I have no idea what his education level was, but somehow, reading that education level corresponds strongly with vaccination rate and that fear of government just brought back that little incident. 

I hope you are doing well, bro. And you did eventually got your COVID vax, both doses plus booster. 

China's labor class: doom for the existing government?

The labor class is supposed to be the backbone of any communist society, such as China. Yet, it seems that the labor class has always been the one being exploited in China. According to communists, only those doing honest labor, such as farmers and laborers are "good", and any sort of owner (store owner, land owner) are "bad". Yet the only way the current government earn money is by selling things, and that is mainly done by selling the labor of all the laborers to foreign companies. Foxconn is a Taiwanese company, making products to HP, Apple, and so on, using Chinese labor.

The problem with the idea is when the labor class gets tired of being exploited, you have a revolution. Can the government manage the tight-rope walk between exploiting its labor force / citizens, and convincing the outside companies to continue to invest money?

http://hubpages.com/hub/Labor-Day-Foxconn-and-Chinas-Labor-Problem

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Do you know the terms KIRF and Shanzhai?

Let this article explain what is KIRF, shanzhai, and how they are affecting the Chinese economy.

China, with the recent Foxconn suicides, has garnered international attention and highlights it as a source of cheap labor to feed the world economy. However, China is also famous for being the clone factory of the world. People in China has no respect for "copyright", and this had lead to a ton of commercial friction between it and other companies and countries.

Microsoft recently is basically refusing to expand its operation in China, citing lack of intellectual property protection. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated recently that even though China has about 10-15% of global PC market, only 1% of Microsoft's revenue is coming from sales in China, when theoretically it should be proportional. Furthermore, Chinese government has recently announced a procurement policy that supposedly rewards "native innovation", which is interpreted as favoring "domestic clones" of foreign products. it was so alarming even US Secretary of Treasury Tim Geitner had to make a statement that he had talked to his counterpart in China and the policy will be modified and clarified.

Has China been turned into a country of cheap labor and clones? Let us check into the the phenomenon of KIRF, shanzhai, and the problem's roots.

http://hubpages.com/hub/KIRF-Shangzhai-and-the-Modern-Chinese-Mentality

Is representative democracy obsolete?

Image by _ambrown via Flickr

Controversial Idea: Is Representative Democracy obsolete?

Thnk about it... the Greeks invented democracy, where any one who cares enough to argue policy can go down to the forum and join in the debate. But then, Greece back then are small city-states, each a government onto themselves.

Then comes the republic, when the distance prevents people from voicing their opinion directly, so representatives are chosen to speak for the people, so you don't have 10000 people stampeding into the capital just to get their voices heard.

Now, with the advent of telephone, TV, and advanced communications, it is possible to practice full democracy again... You no longer have to go physically to the government to be heard. There's e-mail, fax, phone, and so on. And if you care enough, you can always go physically.

So is representative democracy, i.e. republic, obsolete?

Business based on tricking people

The only business that relies on tricking people is magicians. Anybody else, and we call them crooks, and put them in jail.

Except the guys who manage to toe a fine line between warning you not to be stupid, and make you fall for the scam any way.

Here's one example... In California, every corporation incorporated here have to file an annual "minutes" with $25 processing fee that basically updates the government on how your corporation is doing, and who are responsible. Here is one such form:



However, there are some "legal scammers" out there that want to do the same work, except charge you $75 more, for a total of $100. But you do all the work any way, since you get to fill out THEIR version of the form, all the same info. They just copy your info onto a real form, and pocket the extra $75 you sent in. Sounds like easy work, doesn't it? Here's such a form:



He's making money even if he got a response of just 1% (i.e. only 1 out of 100 fall for this "legal scam"). Yikes, too bad real businesses don't profit like that.