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The March of Dimes Syndrome

The better things get, the more desperately activists struggle to stay in business.

Scholars, journalists, and nonprofits have repeatedly denounced SPLC’s blacklists, noting that its tallies include many “hate groups” that don’t exist, or are harmless (such as a Confederate memorabilia shop that made the list), or are mainstream conservative and Christian organizations that simply oppose progressive policies. But for antismoking groups in America such as the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the creation of false scares about vaping generated publicity, terrified suburban parents, and allowed them to maintain their funding from wealthy donors like Michael Bloomberg and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Last century, they warned that “overpopulation” would cause billions to starve to death, that the “energy crisis” would usher in a new “age of scarcity” as humanity ran out of fossil fuels, and that synthetic chemicals would cause a “cancer epidemic.” Those crises were all bogus, but they did at least involve basic necessities for survival and immediate threats to people’s lives.

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