Jo’s Reviews > Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World > Status Update

"Th persistent appeal of th vaccine-autism myth, no matter how many times & in how many ways it has been debunked, is tht it gives parents who see difference as tragedy something external to blame."

"...if your kid is your brand extension, then having a child who challenges social standards of normalcy might mean that your whole personal brand is in crisis."

"What are children for? Are they their own ppl, and our job, as parents, is to support and protect them as they find their paths? Or are they our appendages, our extensions, our spin-offs, our doubles, to shape and mold and ultimately benefit from?"

"...and wht Britain's GMC described as his 'callous disregard' for th children in his study. Yet almost a quarter century after Wakefield's paper first appeared, and with no further evidence supporting the claim, th myth is more prevalent than ever. In 2019, the WHO reported a global measles surge, 'reaching [th] highest number of reported cases in 23 years" and taking 207,500 lives - a 50% increase in deaths in3yrs.

"Th earlier claims rely on an entirely discredited paper suggesting that the MMR vaccine may b associated with autism (& bowel disease), published in The Lancet in 1998. 12 years later, it was retracted by its publisher, who described th claims as 'proven2b false'. Th main author, th gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield, was banned from practicing medicine in Britain in light of undisclosed conflicts of interest..."

"What unites th far-right & the far-out is th hustle on th one hand & a faith in hyper-individualism on th other. In the alternative health world, everyone is selling something: classes, retreats, sound baths, essential oils, anti-metal timing sprays, Himalayas rock salt lamps, coffee enemas. Supplements alone were worth an estimated $155 billion worldwide in 2022."

Conspirituality: "Like th subset of th ultra-religious who were unconcerned about contracting Covid, this subset of th ultra-fit also believed they had special protections from th virus: that their temples - which were their own detoxed & buffed bodies - would keep them safe. Wellness & fitness was their force field, or so they seemed to think."

"When editors and journalists steer clear of important topics for fear that their audiences can't cope with complex truths, it doesn't throttle conspiracies - it fuels them."

"Wolf marched over th edge & was promptly caught in th arms of millions of ppl who accept every one of her extraordinary theories without question & who appear to adore her. So, while she clearly has lost what I may define as 'it', she has found a great deal more - she has found a new world."

"I could offer a kind of equation for leftists and liberals crossing over to the authoritarian right that goes something like this: Narcissism (Grandiosity) + Social media addiction + Midlife crisis ÷ Public shaming = Right-wing meltdown." So much of this and more applies to prominent TERFs.