I agree. And this recent wave of vaccine denial is simply about just that, the denial and this absurd fear that one needs to be "unadulterated" by whatever is supposedly going on.

I say it smells like Kremlin successfully fooling right wing idiots in an attempt to dwindle the number of able-bodied constituents to make their goals easier to achieve. But I've no evidence for this, just like right wing idiots have no evidence vaccines cause anything like what they claim.

Autism though, I simply mention when vaccines come up as that speculation predates the current anti-vaccine mass hysteria, because even if debunked I would still feel its arguments were more plausible than anything the Non-Equine Ivermectin Ingestors could come up with.

And honestly, Autism could be linked to so many things. Radiation, microplastics, magnetic fields, fish, exercise, the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop, you name it. The fact of the matter is that modern science still knows jack shit about Autism as it does a frightening number of prevalent mental conditions, because it's only in modernity that we've even realized the general shape and scope of them. And the most expertise we have in treatment is behavioral therapies and dietary restrictions/supplements.

What's scary though is hearing people with power say they yearn for the day we can eradicate ASD through gene editing, without a solid understanding of what ASD even is. And yes, that is something I have heard from someone with sway, in complete and unwavering sincerety......