For those of us “of a certain age”, this swine flu outbreak (which is all over the news just now: see here, here, and here) is something of a madeleine, awakening memories that carry us all the way back to 1976, and the brief and forgettable presidency of Gerald R. Ford.
It was a strange and dreary time, the middle 1970’s: after the paroxysms and upheavals of the 60’s, and the agonies of Vietnam and Watergate, the nation was spent. The economy, enervated by “stagflation”, gasped for air; the major cities lay crime-ridden and bankrupt; and a rudderless popular culture drifted from fad to mindless fad, with the fashion industry, evidently relieved of all fealty to beauty, good taste, or even fundamental human dignity, creating monstrosities that still, even three decades later, evoke a frisson of horror. Ahead lay Son of Sam, the Hee Haw Honeys, and disco.
At the helm was Mr. Ford, a placid draft-horse of a man, who probably lives on in most people’s memories wearing a “Whip Inflation Now” button and bumping his head on something. In 1976, with an election looming and a wish, no doubt, to demonstrate dynamic leadership, he seized upon the death from influenza of a young Army man at Fort Dix as an occasion for decisive action. Mr. Ford, announcing an impending Swine Flu epidemic on the scale of the Black Death, began an aggressive, and enormously costly, national vaccination campaign. To his credit, the epidemic never materialized, but more than a few people seemed to die from the inoculations themselves. In the end the whole affair was judged, perhaps unfairly, to have been a colossal fiasco, and in November the nation showed Mr. Ford the door, preferring instead to order up four years of Jimmy Carter.
You can read the whole story here.
9 Comments
I was in the military at the time. We were ordered to take the swine flu vaccination. We were given no choice: report for vaccination or be arrested. It wasn’t known until later that the vaccine could cause an autoimmune reaction that resulted in a neurological condition called Guillian Barre syndrome – a disease that results in progressive paralysis, sometimes to the point to where the victim must be placed on life support for months. It is often fatal. The swine flu vaccination program is one of the first instances of the kind of knee-jerk reaction that would become commonplace in the U.S.
re: previous comment
Wise words, and all the more reason to appreciate the current, seemingly lackadaisical American response when compared to the rest of the world, which seems to be in freak-out mode — again. As of today, all current swine flu deaths are in Mexico, a country of 110 million people. There are, at present, only a few dozen confirmed cases worldwide, which is statistically minuscule if the global population is pushing 7 billion.
Kevin
Well maybe we can just forget about this instance of “swine flu” nonsense and there will be no actual cases recognized as such. But then, we may have a bunch of pissed off Mexicans.
Malcolm? Perhaps you ought to create a “Name this flu” contest (with some suitable prize of course).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30453557/
A “Name this flu” contest? I’m sure our readers — a witty lot — would come up with some gems, but nobody would listen.
Pearls before swine, you might say.
Earlier today, I eavesdropped on an interesting conversation between several MDs. They were wondering aloud whether the “flu” that has killed about 150 people in Mexico is actually the same strain that is turning up in other locales. The fact that it’s otherwise healthy, youngish adult males succumbing in Mexico was perplexing the good doctors. What kind of flu behaves like that? So, may be a “Name that Flu” contest isn’t such a stretch, after all…
Sounds like the old Firesign Theater skit of “Beat the Reaper,” where contestants are injected with a “mystery disease” and given sixty seconds to figure out what it is (or else succumb to the disease).
Mal,
First, the title of this post is worthy of the NY Post. Excellent job.
Let me be the first of offer up the two obvious choices for renaming the flu: Mad Pig or Angry Hog disease.
Ron D
Ron. I’m afraid the two names you’ve submitted aren’t gonna be given the consideration they each deserve. Seems there’s a helluva lot of either “sensitive to” or “likely to piss somebody off” people where this particular flu is concerned.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30461327/
I think as far as changing the name to something other than “swine, pig – porcine” (which would piss off my ex-wife) “hog” (which would piss of fans of the Arkansas Razorbacks) that as you so astutely point out – let’s settle on Malcolm’s title for the piece.
Good thing you didn’t take me up on the “Name This Flu” contest Malcolm, people would’ve thought there was somthing fishy going on.
JK,
Darn, now I know how Oprah felt.
Ron D