America's snake oil problem

摘要

Something strange has happened to Project America. Slowly, we have become a population that includes a substantial number of people who drink bleach to cure bronchitis. Some of us aim lasers at our arthritic joints. A few of us speak in tongues, beseeching a higher power to fix our acid reflux. With our latest technological advances, we can achieve what was once impossible. Astonishingly, for example, we designed, tested, and distributed a vaccine for COVID-19 within a year of its arrival in the United States. But as surely as the Sun will rise tomorrow, some people will reject both the vaccine and the best available treatments and opt to drink aquarium cleaner instead. With his book If It Sounds Like a Quack..., Vermont-based journalist Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling charts the reasons why.