Autistic Tendencies

From the e-mail file -- some comments on the autism "epidemic", dated March 10 and 11. The original stimulus was an article from CNN, which included the following: "The parents of a 9-year-old girl with autism said Thursday that their assertion that her illness was caused by childhood vaccines has been vindicated by the federal government's decision to compensate them. A federal program intended to compensate victims of injuries caused by vaccines concluded last November that Hannah Poling's underlying illness that had predisposed her to symptoms of autism was 'significantly aggravated' by the vaccinations she received as a toddler and that her family should therefore be compensated." Essentially, the government is simultaneously holding two positions on this matter -- that vaccines can be responsible for autism, and that they cannot. My comments:

So typical. Two different agencies with diametrically opposed stories. What I actually suspect is that there is a sort of "predisposing" factor in autism that is triggered by these vaccines, but also by any number of other environmental factors, hence the rise in incidence. (This is not the only childhood ailment that has shot up, with environmental factors the suspected cause.) Also true -- overdiagnosis due to a broader definition of the ailment. (Kind of like AIDS in Africa.) Autism has become a "racket" just like so many other ailments. You know this when they start spending huge amounts of money and not getting any results (and rejecting competing theories as being beyond the pale). We're already at the point where 1/2 the public school kids are diagnosed as abnormal in some way -- it can only get worse, from real as well as made-up or political factors.

[My correspondent responded: "It was my impression that certain kids genetically lack the ability to metabolize mercury and eliminate it, so it accumulates. That seems a sufficient explanation, in any event."] My response:

Right. But what about all the other "increased autism" cases? Maybe a similar lack of ability to metabolize some other environmental threat -- heavy metal etc. I think we've just scratched the surface re: environmentally-based ailments and epidemics. It may turn out that technology is a zero-sum game after all.

[To which he responded: "Or if vaccinations become a permanent part of our environment, those who are sensitive to mercury will be weeded out."] My response:

Could be! Autism, while not fatal, is certainly a "weeding out" since very few autistic people get married and have children (alth. I can think of a few who come close). Problem is, as exotic pollutants become more widespread, we may come to the point where _everyone_ is sensitive to something -- we are already halfway there, in fact. Again, not always fatal but not great for quality of life (think asthma, etc.). Similarly, rise in diabetes and hypoglycemia from over-abundance of refined sugar. Many other diseases from other refined foods, artifical sweeteners, preservatives, etc. really way worse than anything alcohol or tobacco can do -- but the regime has set their seal of approval on all of it so what can be done? Once again it's about politics, power, and -- yes -- jobs, which translates to votes. Every time a disease becomes an "industry" you can count on it _not_ to be "cured" any time soon. And what happens to the 50% of public school kids who are already considered "sick"? Do they become wards of the state by age 50, or earlier? I notice also that in nearly all murder cases these days, and quite a few rape cases, the defense brings up the matter of -- not "mental illness" but some other, really lame-assed excuse that comes under the heading of "illness", as a mitigating circumstance. Note also that every time a guy over 60 is tried for anything -- especially corporate thievery -- he suddenly turns into an invalid, who no judge with any compassion would ever actually send to jail. OK, lessee -- he was healthy enough to steal $100 million, but is too sick to go to jail. Right.

All of which "piles on" to the evidence _against_ this society lasting much longer, at least in its present form. All we do from dawn to dusk any more is apologize and get sick. You don't find our opponents on the world scene doing that. We seem to get weaker every day, while they get stronger. Even Russia has gotten over its post-Soviet slump -- and China has been climbing steadily ever since Mao left the scene. Communism is a new and exciting idea in much of Latin America... and Islam is an old and exciting idea all the way from Morocco to Indonesia. What do we have? A ludicrous process of selecting leaders -- a Constitution in shreds -- and a populace that's scared of its own shadow. I really think it's just a matter of time.

[To which he responded: "Just a matter of time--and not a very long time, I think. It is interesting that we seem to be becoming more and more a nation of hothouse plants--asthma and all sorts of sensitivities. I'm not sure whether that's because the environment is becoming more toxic, or whether we're overprotecting ourselves in some way."] My response:

I think "overprotection" is a big piece of it. Didn't I just read that growing up on (highly septic) farms produces healthier adults than growing up in (sterile) cities? No immune system develops properly unless it's challenged on a frequent basis. Problem is, we've confused naturally-acquired immunity with resistance to "unnatural" substances, i.e. ones that either do not occur in nature or do occur but in much smaller quantities. So we rush to protect people against _all_ "hazards", including things like raw milk... or worse yet, we protect against the natural septic challenges but blow off the threat from exotic chemicals. Please note that up until recently, maternity wards, which are supposedly the model for antiseptic purity (except they aren't), were discouraging breast feeding and "lying in", and insisting that women get the "Barbie doll shave" because of all those nasty germs lurking in pubic hair. What it is -- IMHO -- is another one of those holdovers from Puritanism, AKA "emotional plague" (Wilhelm Reich's term), whereby anything natural and organic is shunned, whereas the artifical and man-made is embraced as somehow representing man's "conquest" of nature. It's a perverse form of utopianism. But funny how nature always gets even, sooner or later.

Policy-wise, you wind up with a vicious circle whereby known carcinogens, etc. cause us to create a "hothouse" atmosphere, which "protects" against healthy, immunity-building vectors as well. (And to make it worse, many of the so-called "health promoting" substances are, in their own right, pollutants, or linked to pollution in some way -- e.g., look at all those damn plastic bottles that people throw away when they've finished their "spring water".) So with the immunity-building vectors in decline, our sensitivity increases and more people get sick from the _unnatural_ agents, which in turn creates more "sanitation" and "safeguards", etc. So yes, someday we really will each live in our own little bubble -- but it's OK because we'll have all the Ipods and DVDs, etc. we want. And it'll all be free! (ha)

And BTW, I'm sure the Russians and Chinese are studying all of this very carefully in order to plan their next moves. Now that they've shucked off their own Achilles heel, i.e. dogmatic communism, they're ready to take us on again in a big way -- but this time stronger or at least on par with us on nearly all counts (except maybe the number of cable TV channels). The American Empire could stand only as long as our opponents were severely handicapped by philosophical illusions. Now that those have faded (which we celebrate, ironically) we find ourselves in a perilous position. Note also that one of our biggest handicaps, namely "political correctness", is a liberal program. So the old "right-wing paranoid" idea that the liberals were intentionally weakening us in order to make a communist takeover more likely was actually half right. The "wrong" half was the communist part. But we assume that because communism is "dead", the Russian and Chinese forms of imperialism are dead as well. Mistake! They are just as interested in empire as ever, only the methods have changed. Now it's economic -- ironically the same tool we used to bring communism down has been turned against us in less than 20 years! Of course, part of it is that Americans are even fatter and lazier now than they were back then. But another part is that we've taken on Iraq and the entire Islamic world, which is, of course, an unparalleled folly and which plays right into the hands of such as Russia and China. Did they ever "invest" in another country simply on the basis of politics, with no discernible chance for material gain? Certainly -- back then. But no longer. The true dogmatists in the world of today are not the former communists, but the "spreaders of democracy" (i.e. us, and whoever we can con into providing support) and the Moslems. So while we and the Moslems fight that battle, Russia and China sit on the sidelines having a great time, and planning how to divvy up the spoils.

And also BTW, Israel finds itself on the losing side of this "great game". Even if we hold the Moslems at bay on their behalf, we are still headed for a collision with Russia and China. And will whoever wins that one be at all interested in maintaining the status quo vis-a-vis Israel? Not bloody likely. Russia and China are already, each in their own way, establishing solidarity with the Moslems and keeping Israel at arm's length. Again, no dogmatism is involved -- just cold calculation. So basically, anything that threatens to bring down the American Empire will also bring down the Israeli Empire. How they plan to wriggle out of that one is anybody's guess. I see the beginning of the next historical cycle for the Jews in all of this. The notion that with the establishment of Israel history (at least for the Jews) was supposed to "end" was a fond delusion. As far as the Jews are concerned, history _never_ ends -- it just keeps cycling through the same sequence over and over. Some would call this a "curse"; others (e.g. the Evangelicals) a "blessing". I don't think we'll know for certain until -- literally -- the end of the world, i.e. the _real_ "end of history".

(Overall comment, April 6) How we get from autism to foreign policy vis-a-vis Israel is one of those mysteries of free association and random access. But as far as I can tell, each link in the chain is valid. So you be the judge.