Anti-Vaxxers’ Historical Amnesia

It’s common knowledge that the American measles outbreak is spurred by parents refusing to vaccinate their children. But what cultural phenomena led to this?
 
One factor is a growing “historical amnesia;” another is post-1960s individualism and the rise of alternative health movements. The false confidence of self-styled “experts” have bred suspicion of the same government institutions that decades ago had little trouble establishing public trust in vaccines for diseases like polio. But today’s politicians appeal to that mistrust, stoking the anti-vax fire in political debates.
 
If scientifically proven vaccines can’t hold Americans’ trust, “what other life-and-death advice will they ignore?” asks Peter Beinart.
 
The Atlantic