Allegedly this is a picture describing how the Polio vaccine is a US-Jewish conspiracy to annihilate all Muslims. It is from Pakistan where many friends of mine have told me of similar posters. I would love someone to comment further on the veracity of this photo. The criminals who engage in this kind of behavior have some clear intentions, but what people may not realize is the origin of this.
This is much older than people think. It has deep origins in the antisemitic Middle Ages. Jews were always associated with cutting edge medicine by dint of their professional pursuits and their own health and eating practices. Those who wanted their knowledge, who respected science, brought in Jews in large numbers, sometimes to Muslim societies who rescued Jews from persecution in Christian lands, sometimes to Christian societies. But those past and present who see knowledge as a threat to their power over the masses will always draw down deep into antisemitic conspiracy theories, in order to control the minds and bodies of their subjects. This is very old. This is not limited to the minority/majority dynamic of Jews, Christians and Muslims or to antisemitism. every knowledgeable minority can be framed as an asset or a threat, depending on whether it is in your interest for people to be healthy or miserable, intelligent or stupid.
The world over illiberalism has always depended on most people being poor, unhealthy and stupid. And that is why, for example, Obama’s efforts on health, education and wealth distribution are on the right side of history, and the opposite of his agenda embodies the inglorious violent past. One can argue over details of universal health education, education and job security and training in terms of what is most efficient, but those who violently oppose it with all their vigor are embracing a strategy of violent repression that has been working for thousands of years, but is on the wane, on the wrong side of the tides of history.
© Marc Gopin
