It can’t be just me, but RFK saying objectively wrong things related to health doesn’t strike me as newsworthy at this point.
On one hand, I understand that reporting the truth is important to ensure it’s out there and people paying attention are aware. On the other, I feel like it gives an air of legitimacy, making it seem more like a debate instead of what it is: a loud idiot with a powerful friend spouting nonsense while failing at a job for which he’s unqualified.
He’s been talking about how people with autism are a burden on society.
Gearing up for a solution to the autism question.
At least his certainty in blaming environmental factors rules out eugenics as the solution…or at least it would if he were vaguely aware of the concept of logical consistency.
Journalists just need to step up their game.
The headline, style, and tone of the article should absolutely be along the lines of “a loud idiot with a powerful friend spouting nonsense while failing at a job for which he’s unqualified”
Maybe RFK really is just meaning vaccines when he says “environmental contaminant,” but couldn’t he mean microplastics or PFAS or PCBs or any of the other extremely common, poorly understood (in terms of health effects) actual environmental contaminants?
This article takes a very narrow view of the topic in my opinion. The point is well taken that the recent increase in reported numbers does not represent a sudden spike, but there is a serious conversation to be had about the potential link between pollution and autism. From the article:
Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, said some initial studies have suggested an association between autism and environmental factors such as pollution, but she was unaware of studies “demonstrating a causal link between the two.”
Demonstrating a causal link takes a lot of effort! Just because there isn’t a clear causal link doesn’t mean there isn’t an important association. And because some pollutants (like PFAS) are so widely distributed that they are in rainwater pretty much worldwide, you can’t find an “unpolluted” control group, so proving that they are causing health impacts is doubly difficult. The way RFK talks about it is dumb but the topic itself is worthy imo.
Given that he’s already said they will find the cause by September tells you he already has labeled vaccines as the cause and is just preparing the ‘evidence’. That isn’t enough time to actual study a widespread factor like environmental pollution. Also far too many corporations would lobby to directly stop any research into that.
