Democracy should certainly be informed by expert knowledge but democratic governments are entitled to take their own view on the policies that might follow. Benajmin Disraeli, a 19th century UK conservative politician, once commented, after a major extension in the franchise, that political elites must now educate their masters. Disraeli showed a degree of humility… Read More »
The proposed appointment of Robert F Kennedy Jr as Secretary for Health and Human Services (HHS) has provoked howls of outrage from many prominent figures in the US medical, bioethical and public health establishment. No doubt it was intended to do so. One does not have to accept his answers to many of the key… Read More »
An unexpected element of post-pandemic reflections has been the revival of interest in the work of Ivan Illich, a significant public intellectual of the 1960s and 1970s, whose star has waned somewhat in recent decades… What does it do to a society when the very definition of health and illness comes to be monopolized by… Read More »
The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is reported to be concerned about the falling level of Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination in the United Kingdom. The country has now lost its measles-free status… He has asked social media companies to block the spread of information from groups opposing vaccination (see previous post on this topic)… Read More »