Religion, plain and simple. Religious zealots turning their back on science.

We've politicized everything. Seemingly at random, but we seem to have decided science is left wing lies. Send help.

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/mmr-vaccination-rates-in-us-states.html

Missouri's vaccination coverage is statistically the lowest among US states at only 85.8%

Massachusetts has the highest rate of vaccinations of all US states at 98.3%

The United States was among the first countries in the world to be declared free of measles as early as the year 2000.

Florida is ranked 25 among states, right in the middle, with 91.9% vaccinated against measles.

The problem is when the exceptions group together such as in a school with a reputation for allowing any exception, and become a huge risk cluster. Clearly that many unvaccinated kids are not normal

I didn’t find a ranking by country but at least one map grouped US as “purple” in the most vaccinated group. I think we basically had a success and called it a day. The crazies came out, they got together, they built on their craziness, and created their own high risk areas that brought measles back. Meanwhile we’re complacent, thinking it’s a solved problem

Unfortunately, the antivax crowd is not unique to America, but has spread worldwide

Unfortunately that is not a US only thing. MMR vaccination rates have fallen in quite a few countries.

It isn't just the USA. There are anti-vaxxers all over the world.

But you are seeing a transition from a relatively stable and prosperous time to one less so and people are freaking out as to why. One of the seen solutions is to reject modernity and embrace tradition.

You also have a lot of mothers who have hinged their entire self worth on being good mothers. They've been sold an idea that vaccines cause autism and there hasn't been an outbreak of these diseases within their lifetime, so they don't understand the benefits in this cost-benefit scenario.

Conservatism. That's why.

The way it was explained to me, or at least the way that made me really comprehend the underlying why… is that this is a direct and foreseeable consequence of our for-profit medical system and the systemic abuse of trust it’s bloomed.

Say, for instance, you suddenly feel ill.

You have to avoid calling an ambulance because the ride alone with bankrupt you.

So you learn to mistrust emergency responders.

You se the doctor and learn your ailment is uncovered.

So you learn to mistrust medical insurance.

You go to the pharmacy and your medication costs almost as much as your beaten down used car. And to boot, it’s full of ingredients you can’t even spell. Who knows what it does?

So you mistrust medicine.

But hey, there’s this Organic all natural snake oil, it’s only $10. You take this placebo, and hey (by complete coincidence) You feel better, and more importantly, you’re not bankrupt!

So the masses have been taught, at every stage of medical care, that ‘the system’ causes more harm than good. So now you’re subconsciously looking for any reason to reject it.

Enter Trump and the Pandemic.

The man didn’t just light the oil spill that was the American distrust of the medical system, he took an industrial flamethrower to it.

It’s easy, and even justified, to blame Trump for the embarrassing and deadly rejection of modern medicine we’re afflicted with, but it wouldn’t have gained traction in the first place if capitalism hadn’t gotten so beyond out of control.

Freedom for everything also includes freedom to be stupid. And some are taking that seriously.

A few years ago the UK let their population vote to secede from the EU. The vote was barely 50/50 and the government changed everything based on a single vote. They are now measurably worse off than before, while still continuing on their path even though nobody wants to. Literally no one even wants it anymore and they can't go back. That's stupid.

Americans vote for guns and against vaccines all the time. They get what they want. The people are stupid but the system accurately reflects what people vote for.

The devil is in the details though. Covid vaccines are not a good example of this as they mostly reduce the risk of dying from Covid. You can still get sick and distribute the virus, it is just a ton milder and much less dangerous (which is still useful and you should get vaccinated obviously, just saying before anyone thinks I am anti vaccine). The measles vaccine however prevents people from getting sick at all, unless I am mistaken.