Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Speaking of paranoia and teeth
Related to previous item about invisible stuff causing paranoia....
Portland is holding a referendum on fluoridation. The standard media story tells us that opponents of fluoridation are fat pasty white Birchers and Klansmen. Well, what does the survey say?
When you break down the votes by race, there's a huge difference. Forty-two percent of white voters say they’d vote yes, but only 30 percent of black and Asian voters agree. ... Only 9 percent of Hispanic voters support fluoridation (72 percent said no.)Hmm. That's a lot of black and Chinese Klansmen! And almost all Mexicans are Birchers! Satire aside, the majority view is perfectly rational, not paranoid. Most people know their own dental condition, know how often the dentist has to drill. If they felt their current condition was intolerable, and if they could see a benefit from fluoride, they might go along. But in fact most people don't know if fluoride would make any difference in their dental condition, and they don't know if fluoride would do harm instead of good. The authorities tell us it's good. On this particular subject the authorities are probably right, but we don't believe them any more. And that's a thoroughly healthy development. We know the authorities are corrupt and self-serving, often pure stock shills, often just plain evil. ¶ 5:22 AM
