An emotional post about vaccines

I originally wrote this in Swedish in August 2016. But I have a lot of friends that don’t read Swedish and this is an internationally important question so I decided I should translate this to English. (Warning: some links from this page go to Swedish pages that might be translated by Google- and those translations can be very flawed)

What is bothering me? Why do I bother you?

Although I know that if you show emotional commitment to a question, many will hesitate to take what you say seriously, I find it hard to keep myself ”unattached” and ”composed” when it comes to vaccines.

In the same way that others (and I) could be upset if someone leaves a dog trapped in a sunny car or be upset if someone does not give a child a medical treatment that one believes is extremely important for the child’s health, I can get upset when people expose a child to vaccines that can have super serious negative consequences without engaging in at least as much source criticism and inquiry as when buying a used car. (The upset is bigger because I know I’ve done the same thing! The upset is not directed against the parent’s good intentions, but towards society’s propaganda machine that repeats ”Vaccines are safe and effective” so you ”know” that it is ”true.” (Goebbels is usually credited with saying ”Repeat a big lie until it becomes true.”

Just because something is repeated often, doesn’t mean it’s a lie. ”5 * 5 = 25, 5 * 6 = 30 …” is often repeated in school, and it’s still usually true  Probably ”Vaccines are safe and effective” is a hope rather than a lie to most of the people who spread it. That was the case for me, when I was a believer and could spread that idea. )

But it is not only the question itself and the importance of the issue that bothers me.

For me it is extra emotional because I am scientifically trained and interested. If someone questions the safety and effectiveness and historical importance of vaccines , there are very strong forces that paint that person as ”anti-scientific”. I know that science has enriched my life. In my area of specialization, physics, I have been able to repeat many famous experiments and see that they verified what was in the textbooks. It gave me great respect and trust for the scientific method. When I read about other scientific results outside the field of physics, I have assumed that thoroughness and objectivity could be counted on, although I understand that philosophical and religious prejudices could probably be more disruptive in the science regarding living beings.

I learned in school about vaccines, Jenner and smallpox etc. We know vaccines modify the body’s immune system. Vaccines seemed tested for quality, seemed historically important and seemed to have a solid scientific base. I got some vaccines when young (at least smallpox and polio, probably some others). When I myself had children, they received the usual vaccines. When we were working a few years in Tanzania , we got very many more . All have survived.

Now, after very many hours of research, I know:

• the impression we get into the school of the historical importance of the vaccine is misleading (half truths can be more effective deceptors than outright lies)
• that the Swedish government control agency for vaccines does not hesitate to just accept conclusions in research papers funded and organised by vaccine manufacturers (like GSK) and does not notice well hidden deaths in research papers. Corresponding agencies, like the CDC in USA, seem to have the same behavior.
• the ”reported cases” of a disease are often manipulated and this has historically been done to strengthen the reputation of vaccines.
• the huge economic benefits for vaccine producers depend on our believing in vaccines
• that vaccine producers, such as GSK, have a tarnished reputation in other contexts
• that peanut allergies were extremely rare before.
• that many other ”autoimmune diseases” have increased during the last decades and explanations for that are either missing or inconclusive.
• I will not be convinced  by vaccine studies that are not carried out in collaboration with people who are not already ”vaccine believers”. (Although one can find interesting details in the manufacturers’ studies, which go completely against the impression they give in the summary, which is all most authorities and doctors bother to read. )
• ”placebo” in vaccine studies are not inactive ingredients (type sugar pills or saline injections) and may contain a whole bunch of ”adjuvants” (additional substances in vaccines besides the virus substance, like aluminum [very common], thimerosol [mercury], possibly peanut oil etc). And it is the adjuvants that many vaccine sceptics think can be the most dangerous part of vaccines. So it’s like finding, when comparing a vaccine with almost the same biological and chemical soup,  ”this vaccine is as safe as itself” ”No risk here” 🙂 🙁
• that if someone tries to make vaccinations mandatory here, I will strongly oppose it until it is stopped or I am convinced that the faith ”vaccines are effective and safe” is actually true. (However, the more I have learned so far, the less I believe that! But you must be open.)

Moreover, there are things I believe: 

• When I think, in retrospect, my one daughter had childhood epilepsy possibly due to the many vaccines we were getting in connection with the stint in Africa. Luckily she was able to step by step get off the drugs and quit after a few years. I had no suspicion of a vaccine connection then, so I do not know if it might have been a temporally associated with vaccines down there. I have read that epilepsy cases in recent years are increasing strongly (at least in the US). (Projected cases)
• Autoimmune disease increase is probably associated with the side effects of our interference with the body’s immune response through vaccines. (Although other things like diet and environmental contaminants and more and more ”unnatural” lifestyle may also play a, probably smaller, role.)
• It would be good to build social experience exchange systems for medical procedures since we can not rely on government authorities that may have a dominant interest in not disturbing structured systems, like the vaccination system. even if there is third-party damage

What are my needs that make me bother you (and disturb me)

I don’t want anyone to believe that things have clear scientific evidence that do not. (Like I did about vaccines. I believed the white-coated authority)

I don’t want children to be exposed to serious unnecessary risks to get expected benefits (with that expectation based on distorted indoctrination)

There are people that can base an anti-vaccine stance  on unscientific grounds:

• fear of chemical words,
• the complete lack of proportion on issues of danger and concentration,
• that time-related anecdotes and epidemiological studies prove causality )

but that doesn’t mean that others, like me, have the same base. I’m not afraid of ”chemical words”  like ”dihydrogen oxide” ”this vaccine ingredient is responsible for many deaths every year by stopping peoples ability to absorb life giving oxygen”  (Drowning! 🙂 )

 I want people to respect that I have seriously and scientifically tried to find the truth in this highly-charged issue. If you think that anything I say is wrong, I want you to enlighten me on what makes you think I’m wrong or lack knowledge about. I want to learn more! I hope you do also. I’m quite sure that anybody engaged in this issue wants to help protect children, but what we have learned about history may have lead us to, at this time, different conclusions.

Below is the video that ”today” (actually August 2016), ”pressed my buttons” (= angered me). I got the strong feeling ”What if my failure to present the risks of vaccines and present how deceptive the belief in vaccine effectiveness is, leads to people, that I could have been able to influence, experiencing this, or worse!” (shorter: What if my friend’s children get horrible lives or deaths because I didn’t warn them effectively.) I am, at least, very grateful that, despite my previous blind faith in vaccines, my family has not been affected by the most serious side effects. That was more a question of luck than good parenting. I wish you do your homework as a parent before you vaccinate (or vaccinate any more. It’s never to late to stop smoking! 🙂 )  Otherwise I wish you good luck with your vaccines.

Here is another video that gave me the same feeling today (jan 2107)  https://www.facebook.com/jbhandleyjr/videos/1498096630230487/
In 2020 I discover that this video has been censored by FB. Don’t remember what it was about, but I know Handley has a child with autism.