Karen: The argument over whether vaccines should be mandatory or not has nothing to do with the safety/effectiveness of vaccines other than as factors to be considered by the parents of those to be vaccinated. What the “mandatory” anything crowd really wars against is the idea that individuals should be allowed to function outside the mandators’ realm of control. It is the arrogance of power — the belief that others should have veto power over my decision-making — that must always be confronted. There is an elitism — bolstered by the opinions of “experts” (i.e., others infected with such arrogance) — in all of this. Mandatory vaccinations are just one in a very long laundry list of daily decisions that these people-pushers wish to usurp.

The Best of Butler Shaffer