Reply #93: I find Dorian Gray's and Why Syzygy's posts very interesting and helpful

[LeftishBrit]

Sometimes it's easy to become mired in one's own frustration.

Contrary to how I might be perceived here, I am not a flamer or quarreller on most forums; I prefer peaceful negotiation on forums, as in far more important arenas; and have on the whole managed to survive OK in another forum noted for its controversy. But I think what gets me upset is the sheer *hate* that I perceive from some of the very strong opponents of Pharma, toward those whose antipathy is less strong (very few of us here are in fact *pro*-Pharma). There is aggressiveness on both sides. But I rarely perceive the same HATRED from pro-vaccine people against the strong Pharma critics (I'm attempting to use the same labels that both groups would use for themselves). Contempt, sarcasm, dismissiveness - yes, that happens on both sides. But the HATRED is mostly on one side. I haven't noticed the pro-vaccine people telling the strong Pharma critics to 'rot in hell' or asking them if they 'sleep easy at night' or accusing them of being mercenary shills or of 'fucking up children', for example. And being mocked or told one is stupid, however unpleasant, is not on the same level. As is recognized by most legal systems: you generally cannot sue someone for making fun of you, or calling you stupid; you *can* sue over unjust accusations of venality. I am not obviously implying that anyone could or should sue here - no one uses their real names after all! - just that most legal systems would agree with me that false accusations of corruption or of deliberately injuring children for profit are far worse than mere sarcasm or ridicule.

It's the HATRED that discourages and sometimes intimidates me. I would entirely support having a new forum for vaccine debates (I might not even go there!) and keeping the Health forum for other issues. As a citizen of a country which has universal health care, but where it's been weakened by successive governments, I feel I could have something to contribute to general discussions of health policy; but these tend to get overshadowed by the vaccine debates.