The movie character Forrest Gump was not the most intelligent man in the world, but he always tried to do the right thing under trying circumstances. His phrase “stupid is as stupid does” is a little pejorative, so maybe a better phrase is, “judge someone by their actions, not by what they say or how smart they seem to be.”
An obvious corollary to the Gump phrase is that smart people can do stupid things. A person can be intelligent, come from a good family, and do many great things. However, people can also divert their life’s path away from goodness and intelligence.
A man born to privilege, with a Harvard education and a gold-plated name, can be assessed with Forrest Gump’s measuring stick. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was an environmental lawyer who successfully sued numerous municipalities and companies in and around New York City. He assisted indigenous people in the Americas. For years, he has tried to identify bad practices and actions of polluters and racists.
He had a few personal issues, including drug use and a well-founded history as a “lifelong philanderer.” His second wife committed suicide after finding his personal diary filled with sexual conquests. He had several encounters with dead animals, but these accounts were so bizarre that there is no need to scrutinize them.
After criticizing Donald Trump for years, RFK Jr suddenly jumped on the MAGA bandwagon, undoubtedly to “have a seat at the table of power.” RFK Jr.’s latest passion has been to challenge the long-established germ theory of many diseases.
Before the 1850s, medical experts believed that many diseases, such as cholera, were caused by such things as displeasing God, miasma (bad air), or unhealthy inner body terrains. After the late 1850s, Europeans such as Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, and Joseph Lister promoted a different theory of communicable diseases. They said that germs caused these diseases.
About 125 years ago, modern medicine validated the germ theory of these diseases. However, there are always people who reject modern science in favor of gut instinct, religion, or discredited theories.
Coincidentally, JRK Jr.’s promotion of anti-germ theory coincides with America’s largest outbreak of measles cases in forty years. RFK Jr, in his role as America’s chief health officer, disbanded most of the expert health panels and is leading a crusade to eliminate many of the health safeguards against the spread of germs.
He is actively negating the germ theory and replacing it with “evidence-based science and medicine”. The manifestations of his new science seem to be a reversion to long-debunked theories, such as the need for healthy inner terrains and a healthy lifestyle. The concept of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and internal bodily environment has its merits. No one would argue against avoiding cigarettes, overindulging in alcohol, overeating, eating dead animals found on the roadside, etc. Anyone who abuses their body is predisposed to unhealthy outcomes. However, the act of discounting the germ theory is a classic example of a Forrest Gump fallacy. RFK Jr’s actions are just plain stupid.
Although RFK Jr’s actions might not always be prescriptive for everyone, his advocacy for drinking unpasteurized milk will persuade many to drink raw milk. His anti-vaccine stance will inevitably result in increased disease across the country.
God forbid, we have another outbreak such as Covid-19. The federal health leadership compelled Trump in his first term to take action in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. He was forced to support “Operation Warp Speed” to expedite the development of vaccines. A new germ outbreak, with RFK Jr as our chief health officer, is likely to create confusion and lead to unscientific and pseudoscientific proposals. Instead of making a vaccine, maybe he will want Americans to drink a gallon of orange juice and eat bear meat? This sounds ridiculous, but as they say, “stupid is as stupid does.”
Does having brain worms calcified in your cerebrum give you a pass as far as intellect is concerned? Maybe so, but what’s Trump’s excuse?