Science,Medicine,
And The Gullible Left
(Is your spleen superfluous?)
By Mickey Z.
27 October, 2006
Countercurrents.org
In a recent National Football League game, Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback
Chris Simms suffered a ruptured spleen. Simms was rushed to the hospital,
his spleen was removed, and he is now on the road to recovery. This
much talked about injury inspired Robert N. Jenkins of the St. Petersburg
Times to declare that Simms, in reality, "didn't need his spleen."
In an article called "Humans have body parts to spare," Jenkins
went on to pronounce that we also do not need our appendix, gall bladder,
tonsils, esophagus, stomach, and adrenal glands because those organs,
according to conventional wisdom, are "vestigial."
I'm not here to debate what interests me more is the fact that most
folks would read Jenkins' article and accept the premises therein without
question...and this includes the most cynical lefties you'll ever meet.
I know people skeptical enough to think the Foley sex scandal was leaked
by Republicans to distract the public from the fiasco in Iraq. But tell
those same people that some scientist has declared their spleen obsolete
and they're not likely to rush off to post a rebuttal on their blog.
Tell them that Israel attacked Lebanon because two of its soldiers were
kidnapped and they'll debunk that story in a flash. But how many of
them question, say, the need for humans with a functioning immune system
to get vaccinations (laden with formaldehyde, mercury, aluminum, cells
from sickened animals, and genetically-altered materials, no less)?
Vote counts are routinely disbelieved but nary a peep is heard about
the efficacy of animal experimentation (in fact, to focus on such a
topic is to invite being labeled "anti-human" by progressives).
Folks who don't even think there were humans on the planes that hit
the World Trade Center have no problem eating a tomato spliced with
flounder genes. Of course, genetically modified foodstuffs are safe.
The experts tell us so.
The most jaded, suspicious, disbelieving radicals turn timid upon entering
the realm of science and medicine. They readily accept the fluoride
in our water, the mercury in our teeth, the animal flesh on our plates,
and the electro-magnetic radiation in our cell phones as safe. They
trust that Western medicine knows best: Our infallible doctors and scientists
know how to fight cancer and diabetes and heart disease, they know what
causes diseases like AIDS, and when a man in a white coat writes them
a prescription, they swallow both the pill and the rationale. Even the
New York Times-the propaganda organ of Corporate America-admits "harmful
reactions to medicines, usually attributed to accidental overdoses and
allergic reactions, send more than 700,000 Americans to emergency rooms
each year." But where are the revolutionary types coming out in
support of prevention, healthier lifestyles, and alternative therapies?
Now save yourself the trouble of sending me scathing e-mails to explain
why I'm "wrong" about pharmaceuticals or cell phones or any
of the above. That's not the point. My very simple question is this:
If the heart of being a dissident in America is to reject conventional
wisdom and cast doubt on the corporate propaganda being foisted upon
us at every turn, why do so many on the Left accept-without protest-the
scientific and medical company line?
Makes me wonder if it's the brain that's vestigial.
Mickey Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.
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