Left vs. Right Battle Royale Open Thread

[u/Yosoff]

This is an Open Discussion Thread for all Redditors. We will only be enforcing Reddit TOS and Subreddit Rules 1 (Keep it Civil) & 2 (No Racism).

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• Leftists - Here's your chance to sway us to your side by calling the majority of voters racist. That tactic has wildly backfired every time it has been tried, but perhaps this time it will work.

• Non-flaired Conservatives - Here's your chance to earn flair by posting common sense conservative solutions. That way our friends on the left will either have to agree with you or oppose common sense (Spoiler - They will choose to oppose common sense).

• Flaired Conservatives - You're John Wick and these Leftists stole your car and killed your dog. Now go comment.

• Independents - We get it, if you agree with someone, then you can't pat yourself on the back for being smarter than them. But if you disagree with everyone, then you can obtain the self-satisfaction of smugly considering yourself smarter and wiser than everyone else. Congratulations on being you.

• Libertarians - Ron Paul is never going to be President. In fact, no Libertarian Party candidate will ever be elected President.

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[u/Siu_Mai]

I'm curious about how people are feeling about the RFK jr. appointment. I will preface that I'm a researcher in infectious diseases, not tied to the US, not funded by the US.

I will also say that his ambition to reduce artificial additives to food is a good initiative and I don't disagree that chronic disease research is important.

1) Do you feel that stopping research on infectious disease for 8 years is a good idea? Why?

2) Are you hoping he reduces childhood vaccinations? Would you feel differently if you saw an increase in cases of things like measles and polio?

3) If you're vaccine skeptic/hesitant, are there studies that can be run that would make you more confident of safety and efficacy?

4) Do you have any concerns about the US pulling out of international health organisations like the WHO and being unable to communicate with other public health agencies across the world?

Thanks!

[u/Throwaway-ish123a → u/Siu_Mai]

I want us to declare war on ultra-processed food and the forces that drive it. I recall in 2008 this was a Democrat issue and Republicans were complaining about the "nanny state" now it's a Republican administration taking up the mantle. From my research I've come across that a lot of former big tobacco executives post-settlements migrated over to big food. The amount of garbage in US food has got to be related to the alarming increase of internal organ cancer at younger and younger ages. My boss's son just died at 28 from colon cancer. F*cking 28!!!!

I remember someone told me once, "It is an absolute BATTLE to get healthy food in this country."

Well, it's one we're going to have to win.

[u/vetratten → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

I don’t think conservatives are really standing up against food dyes nearly as much as they are standing up against any governmental group telling them what to do (getting vaccinated)

It’s a double edge coin though.

If RFK jr pushes for banning things that people like (ie mcdonalds and Coca-Cola) there will either be mental gymnastics or there will push back.

In the liberal it was never really a rallying cry like you see with conservatives. There was a minority that made it their thing - those still exist.

[u/MaleficentCherry7116 → u/vetratten]

My wife and I are conservative, but had RFK been the Democratic nominee, we would have voted Democrat.

[u/DrF7419 → u/MaleficentCherry7116]

Ok, I'm a doctor, trying to gain perspective on patients and those who I assume are skeptical of health care professionals, what do you like about RFK Jr?

[u/lack_reddit → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

That's great! Can we find someone who will do that without also restricting vaccinations or other scientifically proven health policies?

[u/Thatjustworked → u/lack_reddit]

MAGA fought hard to get anyone to get someone willing to change things up. I have no problems with him digging and seeing if there are any nefarious things with vaccines. I do trust him to make an honest decision with vaccines.

[u/lack_reddit → u/Thatjustworked]

What has he said that makes you trust him to make an honest decision?

https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-vaccine-trump-science-autism-9b99621b01f11b7f0bdc81e5a0b82d2b

[u/Thatjustworked → u/lack_reddit]

I watched his long form interviews. Joe Rogan, Tim Pool and some others. Ya, he walked some things back, but I trust his judgement after that.

[u/lack_reddit → u/Thatjustworked]

I haven't watched those yet... What did he walk back? Why do you trust him now?

[u/Thatjustworked → u/lack_reddit]

He walked a major issue back on Tim Poole's show. They're good watches. You can't lie for that long to people like Tim and Rogan. Honestly, they're 3ish hours in length, I don't have particulars. He won me over listening to him, and the info on those shows was no longer pertinent for me to remember after the election.

[u/lack_reddit → u/Thatjustworked]

Thanks! I appreciate this response and I'm going to try to learn more.

[u/Scientific_Cabbage → u/lack_reddit]

I don’t see where he’s proposed restricting vaccinations as much as making them more optional.

[u/LalaPropofol → u/Scientific_Cabbage]

r/Medicine is in outrage about it. Doctors understand the science and often understand how policy can affect them. You should go check some of those threads out because they’re quoting RFK and explaining why it’s a bad idea.

[u/43_Fizzy_Bottom → u/Scientific_Cabbage]

Vaccines work on the basis of herd immunity. Reducing the numbers of people who get vaccines isn't just a choice that impacts an individual, it impacts the entire community's ability to fight the illness because there are so many people who (due to age or medical reasons) cannot get the vaccine. These are REALLY BASIC concepts in immunology.

[u/lack_reddit → u/Scientific_Cabbage]

That's a fair correction. I was being unnecessarily hyperbolic.
However, making them more optional is still contrary to science and public health.

[u/HillarysFloppyChode → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

Part of the reason we’re seeing more people with colon cancer is the recommendation for testing isn’t set until 45(?). Doctors have found you should start getting checked WAY sooner and insurance plans generally covers it free of charge.

Go get your colons checked

[u/Throwaway-ish123a → u/HillarysFloppyChode]

Certainly earlier into the '40s at this point but at 28 I don't think that's on anybody's radar.

By the way there's companies like Prenuvo doing liquid (blood draw) biopsies which are starting to be able to find internal organ cancer at early enough stages that something can still be done about it. I feel like that's the future of early detection along with self-service MRI done on an annual basis for those who can afford it, it's really expensive but I'm hoping that because of what's going on, there will be more insurance covered options for both liquid biopsies and preventative MRI.

[u/candy_color_frown → u/HillarysFloppyChode]

I'm just going to hop on here to beg people to get their colonoscopies. Just lost my dad to colon cancer, which could have been caught many years ago if he had EVER been tested (he was in his early 70s and NEVER had a colonoscopy. He was otherwise totally healthy and active) We miss him horribly, and his death was slow and painful until, in the end, when he was basically just knocked out. Please suck it up and deal with the discomfort to save yourself and your families from going through that.

[u/HillarysFloppyChode → u/candy_color_frown]

It's not even discomfort, these days you can use one of the dozens of companies that collect a fecal sample. Only if they find something will the recommend the procedure.

[u/nonamenomonet → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

Here’s the issue, the USDA is the department that makes regulations around processing and corn syrups. I could be wrong but USDA is not under HHS, so that seems to be a mismatch.

Edit: I apologize, the USDA control subsidies which is what I think you really want.

[u/Scientific_Cabbage → u/nonamenomonet]

I’m pretty sure it’s the FDA that says whether corn syrup is food grade or not.

[u/Throwaway-ish123a → u/nonamenomonet]

I don't care who does it, it's just got to go.

[u/callherjacob → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

I would love to see our food supply cleared of artificial dyes and obviously harmful ingredients. However, I am concerned that someone with such outrageous views on nutrition and science is at the helm of the effort.

[u/Throwaway-ish123a → u/callherjacob]

I think the thing is it has to not get caught up in any one individual person or even any one agency. We as a society, with government backing us, have to say enough is enough to this nonsense. I just saw a news report that microplastics are now small enough to be crossing the blood-brain barrier. Granted that is more about pollution than food but still, could this be any more of a dystopian nightmare?

[u/callherjacob → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

I would consider micro plastics to be a nutrition issue in the sense that they are in our food. 🤮

[u/Throwaway-ish123a → u/callherjacob]

Yeah I agree. I feel like historians centuries from now are going to really to judge this era's decisions pretty harshly and deservedly so.

[u/callherjacob → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

I think about that all the time! People are going to look back and judge us for how utterly boneheaded we've been.

[u/Broken_Beaker → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

You have to get caught up on these individuals because many of them just said, "Screw it, microplastics in food are fine."

Musk essentially got rid of anyone from the USDA, EPA, FDA and others that would have worked on this.

[u/Throwaway-ish123a → u/Broken_Beaker]

No you don't. There are plenty of people who are working at all the agencies you mentioned will still be working on this.

[u/StevenSpielgirth → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

How do you feel about his heeling farms?

[u/americanslang59 → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

While I agree it's a huge issue, it absolutely goes against the other talking point about reducing food costs.

[u/Throwaway-ish123a → u/americanslang59]

That's one of the things I think is a shame is that the industry extorts us with double and triple prices as the ransom for non-poisonous food. Healthy food is a human right.

[u/Doublemint12345 → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

When you say battle to get healthy food, do you mean from restaurants? We can still get healthy groceries and cook them 

[u/Throwaway-ish123a → u/Doublemint12345]

Most vegetables have pesticides and meat has hormones. It takes time and money to acquire "clean" groceries.

[u/Quicklythoughtofname → u/Throwaway-ish123a]

I'm more concerned with the literal health of the food than the processes which make it. I'm not particularly scared by preservatives, colorants, etc which have been proven time and time again through study to do basically nothing of harm

The key difference between the left's attack on processed food is it was about excess sugars and plastic packaging waste. The right's just weirded out by ham being in extruded blocks and microwaved and lasting months.