this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2025
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I came up with an analogy for vaccines that I'm thinking might actually penetrate the think skulls of some of these motherfuckers. If you agree, please feel free to use it... It goes like this:
When soldiers are preparing for their life in the service, what do they do? Stand around with their thumbs in their asses waiting for an enemy to attack? No. They train. They train day and night. They train until they have all of the maneuvers and tactics burned into their brains.
They use guns and tanks to defend.
So for defense, most would agree that the soldiers doing the fighting need two main things: training and equipment.
This is the same for your immune system. The equipment that your body needs to mount a good defence comes in the form of vitamins, minerals, and most importantly, calories to keep everything operating as good as it can.
Vaccines are the other side of that equation. They're the training regimen for your immune system. It's the practice run before going into a live-fire situation.
Vaccines, in and of themselves, can't do shit to stop you from getting an infection, or a disease. That's not what vaccines do. They only train the soldiers of your immune system to recognize and effectively attack the enemy. Without them, your immune system soldiers will take longer to react to a threat because it will simply take longer to recognise it and attack/eliminate it.
That's it.
The problem isn't with the understanding of how vaccines work, the reason idiots don't want vaccines is they dont trust what you're telling them is the case.
In their mind, these soldiers you're training are better if they're naturally fit and learning how to fight through real world experience.
And this "training" you're giving your soldiers, is actually just Al-Qaeda's communist lgbtqia+/? agenda being pushed by Joe Biden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (in their mind).
Here's the thing: you can't use logic to reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.
Yeah.
I think it's important to give explanations like Mystik's loudly and often, and maybe a bit quipier if it's too long, because constant exposure to talk radio and other conservative propaganda is partly why they fell into this trap in the first place.
But if they're not listening, you just gotta call them stupid weirdos and make them feel uncomfortable in public. Make their friends laugh at them, make it seem like your side is having more fun. The fear of being excluded will eventually pull them over, willingly or not.
Unless it doesn't. In which case, we're talking about a breakdown of the social order that is... I don't even know, man. That might be beyond fixing.
I'm glad that you're engaging with the topic, but that suggestion won't help. Publicly embarrassing someone who is holding onto an emotional belief like 'I can never trust the companies that make vaccines.' just pushes them to double down. Vaccine hesitancy and how to address it is a well studied topic and any form of attack just pushes the person into defense mode.
The best solution is actually compassion from those the vaccine hesitant most love and trust. Vaccine hesitancy begins with a lack of trust in the medical profession. Which may or may not be well founded, the medical community has some bad people in it.
Regardless, saying to your loved one "Okay you don't trust the scientists, but you do trust me, and I trust the science on this one." Is much more effective than arguing or publicly embarrassing someone.
It pushes them out of communities. You're not really understanding the strategy here. The point is not to make them believe, it is to silence their ideas with a bit of social conformity. This is the same reason you kick nazis out of your bar before they start bringing their friends.
If you make life difficult for people with obscenely bad ideas, you encourage them to either stop or at least be quiet about it. That quiet inhibits spread. It creates new taboos that people are afraid to cross.
Their loved ones are welcome to do this. They should, actually. I can't really help them do that, though.
The flaw in your reasoning is that it is outdated by almost 2 decades. Being pushed out of their community doesn't mean as much when they can just go online and find a new community that tells them all their opinions are right and everyone else is a sheep.
Just show them this comic
https://xkcd.com/2425/
I tried using analogies to explain that I need antidepressants just like people need medicine for diabetes or blood pressure and my mother said I need just need to wear some necklace to fights the evil spirits and that chemicals are bad blahh blahh I just... 🤦♂️
You can't fight conservatives with logic, and when there are crazies using mainstream media to amplify their craziness, conspiracy theories and spiritualism seems even more legitimte to them, they think that science and spirialtualisn are on equal footing and each is equally valid. 🤦♂️🤷♂️ (yea I used the facepalm emoji twice in one comment, because emphasis is needed)
P.S. For context, my parents are not your typical white American christians in the deep south that you normally hear about online, if you think its just that stereotypical demographic beliving in weird things; they are agnostic theists (not sure what their "religion" really is btw, they dont visit religious buildings) and we are ethnic Chinese that are living in the US at the moment.
Not bad. Grabbing them right by their military worship.
This is exactly what I'm thinking.
Thank you.
Only error is he's talking about defense, while they invariably do offense against countries not bowing to their wishes
No analogy will get through to them because you don't understand the problem.
It's not about a lack of understanding on how vaccines work or the basic physics/biology/etc. behind it. It's about a not unfounded mistrust of media and medicine.
To use a medical analogy; you're providing a vaccine after they've gone into sepsis and are surprised that it's not curative.
Are you trying to say my immune system has guns? Now I feel even more American!
Technically they're more stabby
Oooh, white blood cells with bayonets! I'm in...
It's more like giving the army steroids. Hm, seems like something right wingers would support. Wonder why?