Third verse, same as the first:
“We know that personal narratives and anecdotes that are emotionally laden are very persuasive, and that people play into fear-based information more than positive information.”
Put another way: The epidemic that never happened has less emotional weight than the (probably erroneous) anecdote about the thing that did happen. Likewise, the “Made in China” labels on (low-value-added) consumer goods (that no American really wants a job toiling in a factory making) are plainly visible, while the radical improvements in standards of living over the past several decades, here and abroad, are effectively invisible. The thing that is good for us is so good at being good for us that we come to think that we can ignore what is good for us.
Incidentally, those Silicon Valley elite preschools with shockingly low vaccination rates: Are there a whole lot of Sarah Palin admirers among those parents, do you reckon?