Jackson Free Press

Thankful that we don't have a measles outbreak in the state that is usually on the bottom of every healthcare indicator? We are. And we're grateful that, at least on the vaccination front, conspiracy theories and pseudo science haven't kept the state from requiring sensible vaccinations for children, while allowing some room for exemptions. And cheers to the Legislature for turning back the anti-vax efforts so far.

But if it's up to some of our anti-government politicians, that could change. If Tea Party members and the Republicans who are trying to woo their votes end up getting their way on vaccinations, our state could suddenly be much more dangerous for children—all children.

We understand parents wanting to be sure that vaccinations are safe for their kids and raising that issue. We can even see how the line between parental rights and the community's fear of epidemics is a difficult one, especially for families.

But what is not in serious dispute is the science behind vaccinations. Neither is the willingness of some politicians—from Sen. Chris McDaniel locally to U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and Gov. Chris Christie nationally—to irresponsibly follow an anti-science movement because they see an opportunity to rally people against the government, much as many Republicans did with tort reform in past years. This time, though, it's simply children staring back from the other side.

Just like politicians who ignore the clear science of climate change, or the legislators who ignore the dangerous outcomes of many supposedly tough-on-crime policies, they choose the easy votes over actually doing the homework and standing up to keep Americans and Mississippians safer.

Choosing simplistic politics over science and evidence-based policies is pushing the kind of anti-intellectualism that many adults accuse young people of doing in schools to their classmates: basically belittling people who have bothered to do the hard work of homework and study in favor of sensationalistic and dangerous fear mongering.

Such anti-science rhetoric is irresponsible. And in this case, the lives of all the children in our state, and nation, are on the line.

You can make the same argument for lawmakers who are trying to roll back smart criminal-justice reforms—that may actually keep minor criminals from becoming more dangerous ones—to respond to uninformed community calls for tougher laws and policing to curb crime. The sometimes-unpopular truth is that mass incarceration is a huge part of our crime machine, helping churn out more hardened criminals without stopping crime (see page 9).

But it's easy for politicians to pretend they're being "tough on crime" by ignoring the data and research and just feeding some people the red meat they crave while making fun of those who bother to do the homework. Maybe this playground logic will help draw them a certain vote, but why be elected to serve the people if you choose to sell out science and data in order to be reelected?

It's a cycle we will never understand. It's dangerous and needs to stop.