People born before the 1980 are also of significantly lower IQ up to a 7-8 points due to leaded gas use. The boomers and gen X really did a number on themselves with environmental hazards.
In countries that phased out lead later, even early Millennials faced similar or worse childhood exposure. It’s a global generational story, just with different timelines by country. As a personal example, Romania only phased out leaded gasoline at the end of 2004.
Lead poisoning was discovered in a year that is denoted with "B.C.E".
It wasn't news when the additive was invented for gasoline in the 20s, and it wasn't news all through the 70s.
Of course blame it on the corporations. On GM specifically, who also lobbied for jay-walking to become illegal so their cars would stop getting bad press for killing people.
A necessary (?) part of progress IMO. Environmental hazards have been a thing for a lot longer too. Settlements used to be covered in smog due to coal fires for example.
Part of the environmental/emissions argument from developing countries is about past emissions by developed countries. I think it's a fair argument to say given these sacrifices made by past generations in industrialised countries + the benefit of developed cleaner technologies through that industrialisation is an argument against that.
> Settlements used to be covered in smog due to coal fires for example.
Used to? Lots of them still are. Right now there's 150 µg/m³ of PM2.5 outside my window, and it's a "clean" day. Yesterday's concentrations were up to 900 µg (yes, that's correct), and the highest I've seen this winter were 2000 µg (yes, this is also correct). And it keeps getting worse, recently our so-called president mentioned that coal is our strategic reserve and we won't be phasing it out any time soon.
I'm relatively sure most of the "global south" has bad air quality, even if such extreme values are rare.
Here are some random photos of a typical winter day (winter is 8 months per year):
I was thinking more localised. When legislation changes happened (here in the UK) the problem disappeared quickly. The UK being an industrialised country in the context of the parent comments.
I strongly suspect that most of the things we now know to be problematic were also known to be problematic to the ancients, but were thought still to be worth it for their rewards. That’s pretty much where we still are today. Nobody likes breathing pollution, everybody likes modernity.
I suppose even then it would have been obvious to anyone traveling outside London that, hmmm, the fog/smog goes away out here. Only in major cities… What could it be?
Us GenXers didn't do this to ourselves. Boomers (and their parents) did it to us.
I was born '74. Alberta, Canada. I remember people raising a huge stink about "guvmint' interference" when leaded gasoline was banned and when seatbelt use became mandatory. And don't even get started about cigarettes and mandatory separate smoking areas at restaurants etc.
"Liberty" and "freedom" were concepts substantially abused and misapplied throughout the 20th century.
I have no concern for young generations wanting to blame our age group. The day will come soon that their generation is pointed at for not solving the complex problems of their day. Now if they will show me the same grace when I start a story with "back in my day" we will all get along.
The part you are leaving out is treating them solely as "illegals" means these people will avoid going to physicians to get their shots, because they would risk deportation.
The obvious solution for better health for all would be providing public and freely accessible locations for getting these shots, or mobile teams providing them at schools etc.
Can you cite some sources? Because most countries have a functioning vaccination program, in part thanks to now-cancelled USAID funding. But vaccination rates have been dropping, just like in the US. https://www.unicef.org/lac/en/press-releases/latin-america-a...
Your comment reads like anti-immigrant propaganda. If USAID were to be restored, the US could use its vast wealth to improve global health. But the current US regime is decisively anti-vax and wants everyone to suffer unnecessarily from preventable disease.
Yet the measles outbreak in Northern Mexico was caused by antivax white mennonites who brought it from Texas. Turns out there are subpopulations everywhere who need to be vaccinated - if only we had evidence-based people in charge of public health instead of wellness grifters.
1901 Oldsmobile curved dashboard was the first mass produced car. Lead was introduced to gasoline around 1920. You want the "Lost Generation", born 1883-1900.
