Can an entire country kill itself? We’re about to find out. Among all the self-destructive policies being pursued by this administration, I’ll focus on the one I spent my entire academic career studying: our medical response to infectious disease.

In 1796, Dr. Edward Jenner created the smallpox vaccine. But now, under Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is preparing to turn back the clock to before the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution, indeed, before the Age of Modern Medicine, and repudiate vaccines. Recently, the top vaccine official at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr Peter Marks, resigned, and in February an advisory committee meeting on vaccines at the FDA was abruptly cancelled. In response to a measles outbreak in Texas, which has sickened over 400 people, Kennedy has promoted alternative remedies, such as cod liver oil and vitamin A, instead of vaccines. When I visited my doctor last month, she said it was unclear whether flu vaccines would be available this fall, when I typically get vaccinated because my lung condition makes me more vulnerable to infections.

The implications of not having access to vaccines is dire. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that during the 2023-24 flu season, the flu vaccine prevented nearly 10 million “flu-related illnesses.” In any given year, as many as 52,000 people in the U.S. die from influenza, and that’s with a vaccine. When there’s no vaccine, the number of deaths will be far higher. And if we get an avian influenza outbreak? All bets are off as to how many will die. Kennedy has said that the current avian flu outbreak in poultry farms should just “burn itself out,” which was also proposed by some for human victims during the COVID-19 pandemic under the first Trump administration. Moreover, massive layoffs and cuts to HHS mean that we will be woefully unprepared, even less so than during COVID, should an avian flu outbreak occur among humans. Especially concerning is that development of vaccines and other treatments for pathogens, including the family of coronaviruses that caused COVID, were abruptly halted even though they were on the verge of important discoveries.

Millions upon millions of people could die. I’ve spent my career studying the Black Death, or plague, which killed an estimated 50 million people in Europe in just a few years, between 1347 and 1353. Could a modern pandemic kill that many? Under current conditions, I’d say yes. While I’ve greatly enjoyed studying the Middle Ages, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live through them. We’re about to do something unprecedented among developed countries, which is to reject the benefits of modern science and medicine. Third World countries, which have no choice but do without, must be looking at us and scratching their heads.

To use a medical analogy, one could actually say that Trump and his administration is a kind of cancer on the body politic. There are two ways to deal with cancer. One is to allow the cancer to spread, and eventually kill the body. The other is to cut it out, which in the case of a democracy, means removing elected officials through the ballot box or by the constitutional means of impeachment.

We must step back from the edge and save ourselves. Before it’s too late. -John Aberth, Roxbury

Trump ‘state of emergency’ tariffs

David Gartman, a respected financial guru says “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”  Consider the following facts…..

1.  U.S. share of world population :  4 %

2.  U.S. share of world GDP:  26%

3.  U.S. share of world wealth:  29%

4.  U.S. share of world debt:  35%

5.  U.S. share of worldwide military spending:  37%

6.  U.S. share of worldwide foreign aid:  40%

The above numbers show our current path is not sustainable because if you look at the first three items above (population/GDP/wealth) one can conclude America  has been exploiting the rest of the world.  Actually, the top three items have enabled the last three (debt/military spending/foreign aid).  However, our population is shrinking compared to the rest of the world and our share of GDP and debt (2 & 3) can no longer sustain item 4 our debt.  Consequently, military spending and foreign aid (5 & 6) will suffer.

Since WWII, the U.S. has been underwriting the rest of the world.  Is Trump’s plan for getting the world fair really fast with his reciprocal trade policy the correct strategy?  Time will tell…. and I sure hope something is done or the consequences are dire. – Frank Mazur, South Burlington

State House advocate thankfulfor support as he deals with cancer

Since having been diagnosed with, among other things, a malignant cancerous tumor while at the Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC) for two full weeks late last year, I have been the recipient of a priceless wealth of kind and generous encouragement as well as support that has taken many forms, including deliveries of food (e.g., freshly homemade omelets and scrambled eggs as well as, recently, breakfast and a half dozen donuts from the Wayside Restaurant and so on.

This is what I term as going the gracious extra mile and beyond.

Everyone who has done so, has my deepest gratitude.

It means a lot and is highly valued by me as well as has made a huge difference in my quality of life and has contributed to my growing positive outlook on life.

It helps to know that I am respected, loved and valued by so many caring souls within the community as well as state that I cherish and have called home since moving here in 1991 (with the exception of one year spent living in the Northeast Kingdom).

Thank you so very much.

It is hoped that you know who you are.

Bless each and everyone of you for making this the community and state what it is.

I would never want to live anywhere else. Truly.

Thank you also to Front Porch Forum. – Author Morgan Brown is a frequent testifier in the State House and prolific writer of commentaries in support of services for homeless Vermonters.