I know I wrote on vaccines a while back. My opinion hasn’t changed much, but perhaps it’s a little more refined. My basic issue with vaccines is not the science behind it – rather the people behind it – the government and big pharma (that’s pharmaceutical corporations and companies that deal with any thing medically related).
Anyway – I read an interesting article on vaccination – by ingesting natural honey produced by Bees.
A letter to the New York Times editor about how local honey helps to fight allergies got me thinking, does it really work? I’ve heard about this natural allergy-fighting remedy before, but I’ve always wondered, how do you know it works? How much would you need to consume?
I only use local honey. The wildflower honey I get from a South Jersey honey producer is amazingly delicious. Tasted alongside of the grocery store honey that comes in a little bear, there’s no comparison. I always stock up at the end of the farmers market season so I have enough to last me through the winter.
No one in my family suffers terribly from seasonal allergies. My oldest son and I get itchy eyes and a bit of a sore throat when the seasons start to change in the spring and fall, but it only lasts a couple of days. We wait it out and don’t take any medication.
I wonder if our symptoms would be worse if I didn’t buy local honey? Could the honey mustard chicken recipe that my boys like so much that I may it weekly in the winter be medicinal?
The theory about the local honey and allergies is this: your local bees are more likely to collect pollen from the local flowers in your area. That pollen will end up in small amounts in the honey produced. By ingesting that honey on regular basis, the person eating the honey will build up immunity to the pollens from the flowers in their local region. It’s sort of like a vaccine taken little by little.
That’s the theory. There doesn’t seem to be any scientific evidence to back that up, however. I cant find any scientific studies that test the theory. Even without scientific evidence, this sees like one of those ideas worth trying.There are other proven benefits, too. Honey can immediately sooth a sore throat (whether it’s caused by seasonal allergies or not). It’s a natural, temporary energy booster. According the National Honey Board, it “contains small amounts of a wide array of vitamins and minerals, including niacin, riboflavin pantothenic acid, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc.”
In addition to the health benefits, buying local honey helps support local honey producers. Small bee farmers are on the front lines of helping to save our decreasing bee population right now, and purchasing their local products can help keep them in the fight.
My question to you is, do you use local honey to alleviate the symptoms of your seasonal allergies? Do you believe it works and why? I’m really curious.
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That is a bit fallacious. Nature does not imply that something is good for humans, as not all parts of nature are conducive to human existence, neither does a crass divide between good and bad exist.
This appeal to nature, as it is called on Wikipedia, is not a valid correlation.
I do like honey, though.
You are correct in that an appeal to nature is a little fallacious.
Same homosexuality is okay because it’s in nature is fallacious. Rape is natural in nature; doesn’t mean it’s okay. So is eating the young of competitors.
That said – I trust nature more than I do big pharma when it comes to vaccines. Nature is. Neutral. No profit motive.
Wald
Now I am a little disappointed with your reasoning.
Is a profit motive unnatural? Is a lion that eats its competitor’s kids not not motivated by some kind of profit? Is a plant that tries to protect itsefl against being eaten – with a venom – not in some way selfish?
I never claimed to be perfect.
In any case – I distrust vaccines for a variety of reasons. Because I’m can’t remember all the sources I’ve read and link to them to make other arguments, I go to logical arguments. Sometimes my logic falls short.
In any case – I do not say that the profit motive is unnatural. Do not put words in my mouth. I say that it is not necessary benevolent.
I think you’re attacking a strawman of my arguments. Don’t know why. Don’t care for it.
I’m not arguing what is unnatural and what is not. I’m arguing why I dislike vaccines.
Wald
Ah, but I am not attacking the strawman. I am using it as an exaggeration merely.
I have known one girl who was – like you – quite opposed to the pharma industry. While I do think that natural products do have traits that are not replacable with synthesized and refined chemicals, I do see a lot of purpose for at least some medicines.
Take for instance NSAIDs. I was struggling with an outer ear inflammation this year. I refused to be a weakling and just let it wash over me. I was in agony for 2 weeks and it was only getting worse. Then I took Ibuprofen and over night, I was painfree. Within two or three days, the inflammation was gone. I think I gave the mindset approach a fair try there, but in that particular case, the medicine was far superior.
So while I can understand your intuition, I think you may want to challenge this rather irrational belief at some point. I read your old article as well and I agree, but see my above point.
Besides, if pharma is motivated by greed, it makes sense to sell products that actually work. Sure, there have been incidents, but what field of research does not have those?
And if you agree with my opinion about generic medicine, why reject vaccines as opposed to that? Both come from the pharma industry.
Ah I see. Well you may want to be more clear about that. When I exaggerate to make a point, I explicitly say so to prevent confusion. In conversation, face to face, tone of voice, facial expressions, and other nonverbal cues communicate that clearly enough – but not text.
I do not oppose all medicines. I can’t boycott the entire industry. It is not all bad and not all doctors are bad. At least, you cannot possibly argue such in the absolute sense.
Pain medicine often just covers the symptoms so you can go about your day while your body heals itself. In the end, your body is still doing the healing. Does that mean I would never take pain medicine or advise that someone never do it? Not necessarily.
Sure – if big pharma is motivated by greed it makes sense to sell products that work. But tell me. What is more profitable? Medicine you sell once because it is a cure? Or medicine you can sell to your customers for the rest of their lives, because they never truly get better and therefore grow independent of your wares (lifelong customer).
Sure – there are incidents. But with economies of scale and industrialized production of medicine, combined with extensive distribution, side affects can potentially affect millions, not just a few isolated cases her and there. Being the profitable business it is, they have both the money and motive to cover such instances up. And they do. They also lobby to make taking vaccines mandatory (it is mandatory in the military) which is a scary thought if you can’t quite tell what is in these vaccines. At best they contain good things and help. At middle they contain placebos and are essentially syringes of nothing that are sold at extensive profit. At worse, the companies make a killing, literally and figuratively. Also – there is a law that prevents people who take vaccines from suing companies that produce them for malpractice if they experience side effects. There was a court specifically set up to handle such complaints – which is not a good indicator that such incidents are isolated.
Generic medicine is optional, not mandatory to take. Been around for longer. Often just industrialized/synthetic versions of what exists in nature.
Take all the medicine you want. It’s your body. Just don’t force me.
Wald
Duly noted, but I think I can live with that small kind of misunderstanding.
As for NSAIDs, I thought the same. Which is why I did not take it for two weeks. My body was not healing, though. Then the healing was done in two days. NSAIDs are actually not merely medicines against pain. The AI in the name stands for anti-inflammatory. They actually make the inflammation go away – quite amazing. Had I not seen the profound effects myself compared to ‘natural’ healing, I may have my doubts, but now I do not.
As for the pharma making medicine that makes you worse in the long term, that is a neat theory. But it has a big weakness, which is: How could a drug company possibly foresee long-term consequences without long-term studies? But long-term studies are counterproductive to making short-term profit. Ergo, if there are negative side-effects in the long term, they are likely to be unknown.
Do you know anybody who actually works in the industry? It would be nice to get some insider information that is balanced.
As for forcing you to take them, that is a straw man on your side. I merely meant to appeal to your intellectual pride. In no way was my statement meant motherly or patronizing.
So – I’ll get the “forcing” argument.
I do not make the claim you are forcing me to take medicine or vaccines.
But intrinsic to my distrust of them is the efforts of corporations to make them mandatory for the public to take them (convenient for someone who could potentially profit from such a thing to lobby for such a thing).
So – my bad on wording that.
I can’t tell you that your medicine helped heal or not. I don’t know you or your body or the medicine well enough. I will say, that the more you let your body heal itself, the better a job it does of that over time. I have an immune system because I was born with it. I do not intend to let it be lazy and not work and grow with the rest of my body.
In any case – if the medicine works for you? Great. Good to hear it. I’ve no issue. Most of my experiences and logic with regards to medicine are based on my own experience with my own body. Which limits me somewhat, but not that much.
I am not saying they make medicine that makes you worse in the long term so much as make medicine that never fully solves the problem. If you’re perpetually sick and perpetually in need of their products, it is more profitable for them.
Let me rephrase this – health, cures – those are short term profitable. Sickness is long term profitable. Self medication and prevention and not profitable.
Secondly – medical companies do long term research anyways to determine efficacy of their drugs and to own avoid class action lawsuits for medical malpractice. The apparatus is already there. Besides impact on profit and fines, I doubt anyone who works in the medical industry high up actually cares what’s in the medicine or how well it works so long as it makes money.
I am acquainted with one person who is very familiar with this stuff. Can’t say whether or not if he’s in the medical industry, but he knows his stuff.
DM him on twitter if you wish to know more:
https://twitter.com/Zelcorpion
Or make an account on RVF:
https://www.rooshvforum.com/member.php?action=register&referrer=27166
And message him there:
https://www.rooshvforum.com/user-20270.html
Or you could look at Hawaiian Libertarian:
http://hawaiianlibertarian.blogspot.com/p/red-pill-blue-pill.html
I understand. I did not find you smothering. Sometimes my arguing just isn’t up to par. Other times, it’s just that a topic is near and dear to me.
Wald
Just bought me a good honey. Tastes much better than vaccination.
Good man.
Wald