RFK Jr. is spewing childish libertarian nonsense Vaccines are not a "personal choice."

[Historic NY]

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. needs to stop saying vaccines are “a personal choice.”

They’re not. Speed limits aren’t a personal choice. Smoking on airplanes isn’t a personal choice. Paying taxes isn’t a personal choice. In wartime, the draft isn’t a personal choice. (Kennedy, who was born two weeks before me, is old enough to remember those days.) Sacrifices are what make us a nation instead of 340 million selfish hunter-gatherers. Each of us gives up some personal freedoms so we all stay alive. Opposing lifesaving mandates is childish libertarian nonsense.

Sadly, our top health official is a childish libertarian.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/03/19/rfk-measles-outbreak-vaccine-disinformation/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzQyNDQzMjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzQzODI1NTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NDI0NDMyMDAsImp0aSI6Ijg0OGMwNGRkLTY1ODctNDZlYS04MGYyLTZiMmRiMDY2NGU0NyIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9vcGluaW9ucy8yMDI1LzAzLzE5L3Jmay1tZWFzbGVzLW91dGJyZWFrLXZhY2NpbmUtZGlzaW5mb3JtYXRpb24vIn0.yzvTyzf2D0Tj_gW-8Cyy6Xi2XzSm0wkInm9ZtutUfrE&itid=gfta]

[sop]

1. Describing someone as a "childish libertarian" is redundant.

There is no political philosophy more evocative of a vapid freshman dorm room conversation than Libertarianism.

[lame54]

3. Seeking a fantasy world that will never exist

[3catwoman3]

10. Libertarians remind me of nothing so muchas toddlers...

...who want what they want right now, think they know everything, and don't want anyone telling them what to do.

[NNadir]

12. I used to say, "If you're still reading 'Atlas Shrugged" after your acne cleared up...

...you are in serious need of trying to mature into an adult."

[erronis]

15. Perfect!

That's almost exactly when I got tired of her screeds - Atlas Shrugged, etc.

[mr715]

13. Objectivism

Admittedly a flavor of libertarianism

[lame54]

2. It seems his job is to...

Not do the job
Doing nothing is the cure for everything

[Disaffected]

11. Yes, sorta like

homeopathy (which I suspect Kennedy would advocate).

[mr715]

14. Yeah, but only in small doses. NT

[erronis]

17. Teeny-weeny doses.

I guess that's actually Melania's knick-name for it.

[SheltieLover]

4. A type of haircut is a personal choice. Vaxes should never be referred to as such.

[SCantiGOP]

5. Vaccines are "personal choice"

as much as not driving drunk is a personal choice.

[SharonAnn]

9. If they are "personal choice", then the consequences are also "personal choice". Banning from schools, public places, e

I take a pretty hard line on this. No vaccines? Then no access to schools, workplaces, parks, government meetings, libraries, and other public places.

I try to avoid public places as much as possible. Too many "anti-vaxxers" around here.

[AleksS]

19. This is worth repeating!

Literally everything you do is a personal choice--however, when making that choice, you are personally choosing the consequences as well. The consequences are part of the choice. The effects on others are part of that choice. And when you affect others, that personal choice, becomes something that those others have a vested interest in, and the state has a role in preventing the exercise of your personal choices from harming others. That's literally the main reason there is a government.


What's that old saying? Your right to move your fist through the air stops at the point where my nose starts.

[patphil]

22. I feel the same way. Choices have consequences.

Unfortunately for the anti-vaxxers. their choices can negatively affect other people, so society may choose to isolate you to protect everyone else.

[Passages]

6. The predator, just like his cousin described him to be.

What he is doing should be considered a crime.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. FAUX (false) libertarianism. The fakes avoid liability, responsibility, accountability. By those ye shall know them. .nt

[calimary]

8. He's nothing but a PE. Public Embarrassment.

[cadoman]

16. repukes want to take away our choice on things that matter...

...and have freedumb to choose things that are destructive to our health and Democracy.

The short of it is: Christofascism.

[BattleRow]

23. Christofascism is such an oxymoron.

[erronis]

18. And yet this rfkjr vaccinates himself and his family.

[Skittles]

24. of course he does

repukes are HUGE hypocrites - they use these crap "issues" on their easily-manipulated base, but you can BET they themselves are fully vaccinated

[ShazzieB]

26. Does he really, though?

Or did he just lie about it at the confirmation hearing? I'm sure he knew that's what people would want to hear, so I'm skeptical.

I don't know if that was the only time he ever said that publicly, so maybe I'm wrong, but it makes sense to me that he'd say that at the hearing, whether it was true or not.

Otoh, IF his kids are vaccinated, did he actually have anything to do with it himself? He had 2 kids with wife #1 and 4 with wife #2. For all we know, their moms could have handled all their health stuff and got them vaxxed without seeking his input. If I recall correctly, he just said they were vaxxed, not whose idea it was. And again, he knew it was what people wanted to hear.

Questions, I have so many!

[maxsolomon]

20. He needs to stop, but he won't.

In fact, he'll double down. He's had his own facts for decades now.

[IronLionZion]

21. When it affects everyone else around you, it's not a personal choice

[ShazzieB]

27. Exactly!

EDIT: Accidentally hit "post" before I was finished.

There's this thing called herd immunity, which vaccine skeptics and antivaxxers are either ignorant of or pretend not to comprehend.

Herd immunity means that enough people in a group or area have achieved immunity (protection) against a virus or other infectious agent to make it very difficult for the infection to spread. Immunity happens in multiple ways: through natural infection, vaccination or passive transfer. Vaccination is the best way.

Every person who has immunity makes it harder for the infection to spread to other people. If you’re vaccinated, it’ll be harder for the virus to use you to infect other people or to mutate into a new variant. Higher numbers of immune people are needed to stop the spread if a virus is very infectious.

Source: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22599-herd-immunity

[Celerity]

28. Cleaned up link

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/03/19/rfk-measles-outbreak-vaccine-disinformation/