A new type of evolution?

[Joe Cummings]

It's always interesting to watch the US scene;

What I'm seeing at present is that many people are really obsessed
about the number of new immigrants, and the methods which descendants
of immigrants use to pull up the ladder behind them.
Because of the presence of recent immigrants, the attempts to retain
WASP supremacy can only delay the inevitable demographic changes. I
think there is also a differential birth rate.

However, I was struck by the reactions of the earlier immigrants and
their descendants to the pandemic.

There may be a form of selection based on politics rather than the
physical environment.

What seems to be happening is that the majority of antivaxxers are to
be found amongst the Republicans, and these antivaxxers have a
differential deathrate to the rest of the population. This difference
will grow as long as the pandemic lasts.

We may be seeing a laboratory experiment taking place in the US
population.

With an eye to the future I'll take the liberty of signing myself:

José Cummings

[RonO]

It has to be a stable environment or you do not get directional
adaptation or selection. Once covid is over being such an extreme
factor (over 600,000 dead and unknown numbers debilitated long term).
Just like beak shape in the Galapagos finches once the drought is over
there will be other selection factors acting on beak shape.

A bigger effect may be cultural. Once the anti-vaxers-covid-deniers get
severe covid they do usually recant and figure out how stupid they were.
This has to have an effect on family members with similar political
leaning.

Ron Okimoto

[Zen Cycle]

I live in northeastern massachusetts, in an area with a rather large hispanic population. Even though they vote overwhelmingly liberal, It seems there is an aversion within the hispanic community to the vaccine (which I haven't seen any rationalization for), yet they are fully aware of the implications and have chosen masking instead. Many hispanic-owned businesses still require masks, and the vast majority of people I see wearing masks are hispanic. Contrast to the rightwing sentiment that the vaccine and/or the pandemic is a hoax.

[jillery]

Anti-maskers are strictly political. OTOH anti-vaxxers can have
additional motivations. My understanding is a large fraction of
hispanic communities are suspicious of government programs.

--
You're entitled to your own opinions.
You're not entitled to your own facts.