To my knowledge, no one gets “shamed” out of racism. This past couple years should have demonstrated that racism in this country is alive and well, or rather unwell. Racism has been around for thousands upon thousands of years. Is Maher suggesting that he would just throw trash around if no one were around to make him feel bad about it? If so, you probably don’t want to see what his personal toilet looks like. If Maher thinks that littering has been successfully “shamed” away, then he should swim through the Ohio River with his mouth wide open. But this did occur in concert with establishing new seat belt laws and working with the automobile industry on car and seat belt design. It did help to show people what might happen if they don’t use seat belts. Yes, education should be part of any public health initiative. Nevertheless, Maher seems to be confusing shaming with education. I doubt that professors there teased and harassed their students until they learned. It’s not clear what Maher’s classes were like at Cornell University, where he studied English and History and not medicine or public health. In fact, is seat belt shaming or bullying really a thing? Does Bif the neighborhood bully go around beating up people who don’t wear seat belts? Do people say, “ugh, I would never date someone who doesn’t wear a seat belt” or “we can’t let that non-seat belt user join our fraternity or sorority”? Medications usually aren’t necessary to get people to wear seat belts, but shaming didn’t really play a role in seat belt use either.
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