How The Microbiome Destroyed the Ego, Vaccine Policy, and PatriarchyBy Sayer Ji A paradigm shift has occurred, so immense in implication, that the entire frame of reference for our species self-definition, as well as how we relate fundamentally to concepts like germs, have been transformed beyond recognition. This shift is underway and, yet, despite popular interest in our gut ecology, the true implications remain unacknowledged. It started with the discovery of the microbiome, a deceptively diminutive term, referring to an unfathomably complex array of microscopic microorganisms together weighing only 3-4 lbs. in the average human, represents a Copernican revolution when it comes to forming the new center, genetically and epigenetically, of what it means in biological terms to be human. Considering the sheer density of genetic information contained within these commensals, as well as their immense contribution towards sustaining basic functions like digestion, immunity, and brain function, the microbiome could just as well be relabeled the macrobiome; that is, if we are focusing on the size of its importance rather than physical dimensionality. For instance, if you take away the trillions of viruses, bacteria and fungi that coexist with our human cells (the so-called holobiont), only 1% of the genetic material that keeps us ticking, and has for hundreds of millions of years, remains. One percent isnt that much for the ego to work with, especially considering it now has to thank what were formerly believed to be mostly infectious agents for the fact that it exists. Even more perplexing, the remaining 1% of our contributed DNA to the collective gene pool of the holobiont is at least 8% retroviral (yes, the same category as HIV) in origin! Us Against Them? Once the object of modern medicines fundamental responsibility the human body is redefined and/or perceived with greater veracity, and germs become less other and more self, a challenge for germ theory which seeks to differentiate between the good germs we are versus the bad ones out there that we must fight with antibiotics and vaccines. As many readers are already poignantly aware, todays political climate and agenda is unilaterally pro-vaccination on both sides of the aisle (conveniently funded by the same industry lobbyists), with a tidal wave of bills across the U.S. set to eliminate exemptions against mandatory vaccination. The rationale, of course, is that deadly germs can only be prevented from killing the presumably germ-free host through injecting dead, weakened or genetically modified germ components to prevent theoretical future exposures and infection. This concept is of course intellectually infantile, and if you do some investigating youll find it was never quite grounded in compelling evidence or science. But the intellectual implications of the microbiome go even deeper than undermining germ theory, vaccine policy, and the culture of medical monotheism that upholds these constructs. Maternal Origins of Health and Ultimately our Species Identity Deep within the substratum of humanitys largely unquestioned assumptions of what it means to be human, the microbiome has also fundamentally displaced a latent patriarchal prejudice concerning the relative importance and contribution of the man and woman towards the health and ultimately the continuation of our species. It has been known for some time that only women pass down mitochondrial DNA, already tipping the scales in favor of her dominant position in contributing genetic information (the seat of our humanity or species identity, no?) to offspring. The microbiome, however, changes everything in favor of amplifying this asymmetry of hereditary influence. Since we are all designed to gestate in the womb and come through the birth canal, and since the neonates microbiome is therein derived and established thereof, it follows that most of our genetic information as holobionts is maternal in origin. Even when the original colonization eventually changes and is displaced through environmentally-acquired microbial strains as the infant, child, adolescent, and then adult, develops, the original terrain and subsequent trajectory of changes was established through the mother (unless of course we were C-sectioned into the world). Put in simpler terms: if 99% of what it means to be human is microbiome-based, and if the mother contributes most, if not all, of the original starting material, or at least the baseline and trajectory of future changes in the inner terrain, then her contribution becomes vastly more important than that of the father. Moreover, the conditions surrounding gestation (important because of maternal-to-fetal microbiome trafficking in utero), her general health, and the way in which she gives birth (home, birth center, or hospital) now take on vastly greater importance than previously imagined. In other words, being born in a hospital via C-section and vaccination, will produce, genetically and epigenetically, a human that is so different qualitatively from one born at home, naturally, that they could almost be classified as different species, despite sharing nearly identical eukaryotic DNA (remember, only 1% of the holobionts total). The Scientific Inevitability of Birth Feminism Given this perspective, obstetric interventions are the archetypal expression of a male-dominated paradigm that seeks to manage a womans birth experience with largely unacknowledged consequences for the health of our species. Protecting health and preventing disease has now been traced back to the origins of the microbiome, best expressed through natural birth in the home, which has been estimated to be as much as 1,000 times safer than a hospital birth despite propaganda to the contrary. In light of the new, microbiome-based view, the male role in protecting the health of women and children will be irrevocably downgraded in importance, not just professionally and medically, but biologically. First, it is interesting to look at the ancient roots of the biology-based psychospiritual disparities that exist between men and women, and which still influence todays practice of medicine. It would appear that men have from the beginning of time envied the creative role of women in conception, pregnancy, birth and caretaking. Erich Fromm also described the pyschospiritual implications for men of this biologically-based existential disparity in terms of the phenomena of womb-envy, exemplified by the biblical passage where God takes a rib from Adam to create Eve an obvious reversal of the natural order of things, reflecting the inherent impotence men feel knowing their creative potency is secondary importance. It has been said, rightly, that the most powerful thing in the universe is to create life (is this not why we attribute this to God), and the second most powerful thing to take it. It is no coincidence that history, since its inception as recorded, is largely a documentation of the history of wars, of men creating meaning by killing men, and establishing symbol systems intended to capture by proxy the creative power latent within every womans body and experience. And so, 10,000 years later, the world ruled by monotheistic, male-principled religious and cultural systems, both in secular and religious form, it seems that the facts of our biology are now intervening to shake up these largely subconscious belief systems in favor of an ancient truth: women are superior to men, fundamentally. (Though it is not a type of superiority to be used against the weaker sex: men, rather but to denote a higher responsibility, and perhaps greater need to be supported by men to get the job done, together, as inscribed in the natural order of things and its inherent design.) The birth process, also, has been described as the closest thing to death without dying (it is ironic that anesthesiology, which could also be described in the same way, makes obstetrical interventions like C-section and epidural possible, at the same moment that it negates the spiritual experience of natural birth/womens empowerment we are describing), offering women a window into the in between and a direct experience of Source that men, less likely to experience it naturally would later emulate and access through the various technologies of shamanism. Clearly, protecting the microbiome is of utmost importance if we are making the health of our future generations a priority. Indeed, ensuring the health of our offspring is perhaps the most fundamental evolutionary imperative we have. How do we accomplish this? What is the microbiome but ultimately a selective array of commensal microorganisms that ultimately originated from the environment: in the air we breath, the soil we interact with, and the water and food, of course, we ingest. This means we cant simply live in a hermetically sealed bubble of shopping for organic, non-GMO certified foods at Whole Foods, while the entire planet continues to go to post-industrial hell in a hand basket. Our responsibility becomes distributed across everything in the world, and every impactful choice then becomes relevant to the fundamental issue and imperative at hand. With the microbial biodiversity in Big Ag, GM-based agricultural zones fire-bombed with biocides, by the very same corporations that either own or distribute the organic brands we all love to think will save our bodies, if not the planet, we need to step deeper into our activism by stepping out of the diversions and palliative measures that dont result in lasting change. When we work with the natural world, when we honor and acknowledge what is unknown about the complex web that we all share, we will bring back a vital health that now seems so far out of reach. When we engage technologies positioned in the war against germs and organisms, however, we are doomed to fail and to cripple not only our species but our home. This article first appeared at GreenMedInfo.com. Please visit to access their vast database of articles and the latest information in natural health. Netflix appears to be heavily infected by the prevailing big pharma paradigm and actively- transparently, overtly, clumsily at that- inserting medical propaganda in its original shows- a scene in Daredevil, where an ER is struggling to cope with a disease outbreak thanks to idiot parents who dont vaccinate their kids, according to the head nurse, and in Sense8, more relevant to this article, the folding takes place. Bear with me, itll take a minute to set up: A main character in the show, a female, is haunted by a past event that is slowly revealed over the eight episodes. She lost a child at birth and her husband on the same night. In the final episode we find the husband rushing the woman to the hospital to give birth- at night, on icy back roads. In Iceland. Shes having contractions. As he recklessly slides around at high speeds he exclaims I dont know what we were thinking with that midwife! shortly before l losing control and flying of the road, tumbling down an icy slope in the middle of nowhere. He dies in the crash and she gives birth in the car. The baby is fine at this point but freezes to death that night as she tries to walk to civilization which is nowhere to be found, for dozens of miles at least, judging by the scenery. So, the midwife is to blame in this scenario according to the show. What could possibly have happened with the midwife BEFORE birth to cause them to risk driving at night on mountainous icy roads in the middle of nowhere? Not explained, of course, because its ludicrous. I wonder how many people caught that? Nowhere in the show does she show any anger at the husband for driving them off a cliff due 100% to his recklessness, no, its all a big tragedy because some midwife did something SO awful it forced them to make that choice, never mind she gave birth on her own to a healthy child AFTER the horrendous accident. Effing nonsense. Anyways, exciting news about this microbiome, but its an uphill climb to change a paradigm- especially one as deep rooted in the western public conscious as medical science. There may be researchers currently destroying disease theory and vaccines, but Look at Thunderbolts Project and how thoroughly they are currently putting to shame modern day physics and astronomy- big bang theory, comets, planetary/solar system/galactic formation, geologyyet the prevailing and dogmatic absolute joke that is the current paradigm is far from being supplanted. Itll happen eventually but- there is nothing more powerful than a belief in a paradigm so dont go expecting anything to change for the better anytime soon. Its early days, and there are powerful interests invested in the prevailing theories as well as a public thoroughly propagandized and resistant to change. If its difficult to overturn big bang cosmology- decades of work, successful predictions, satisfying answers and just the it-makes-effing-sense-ness of the electric universe, imagine how difficult itll be to supplant big pharma/Rockkefeller medicine and their associated interests- which includes being the main advertiser for msm- with a paradigm which posits that a universe of tiny microorganisms in our bellies determine our health. Never mind the male/female psycho-spiritual dimensions. Yeah, you got your work cut out there. And not to be negative, just, lets be real. Itll be a battle. Science advances one funeral at a time. Or causes them. Thats a great quote, thanks. Max Planck, I looked it up. You might enjoy this, just a tad over five minutes. Gives a quick rundown of six or so scientists whos discoveries at the time were roundly denied, ridiculed, ignored etc by various people and institutions, but turned out to be revolutionary in the end. Not a complete list, of course. https://youtu.be/b6QLu2Pdu1c And, dont forget the program House which had the star of the show reacting viciously towards patients refusal of certain modern medical procedures, which would include vaccines and blood transfusions. Blatant disrespect. ive only seen a few episodes but i think that someone with houses personality would not actually abide by pharma/medical complex rules. or any rules. quite blatant if your woke but little compared to some. the actual ER had quite a few pro vaccine bits but strangely also some critique on pharma sponsoring of hospitals and research. i think it shows what theyre allowed and how far they can go without getting into trouble/losing money. We have been reading about the research of Rick Strassman, M.D. on the drug DMT in his book _The Spirit Molecule_. One of the recurring themes from the human research subjects has been meeting a host of tiny beings who know the person, care about their well-being, and have a loving aura for them. We were aware of the large microbial community each of us carries in our bodies before reading this book (or this article). My speculation about why people would have this experience on DMT has centered on the possibility that the drug (which also occurs naturally in the human body) somehow opens up lines of communication with our microbiome. After reading this article, perhaps thats not as far-fetched as it sounds at first. Changing the subject completely, I also found the articles references to the superiority of women interesting in light of the leading female candidate for US president, Hillary Clinton. Ive long thought that a woman certainly couldnt do worse than the men who have been warming the Oval Office chair, and perhaps do a lot better. So it begs the question: Why do we have this man-hating lesbian psychopath with a long trail of bodies (mostly men) marking her career, with so much support among women, ready to vote for her just because she has a vagina? Where is the REAL woman the nurturing, healing, loving, wise crone to run for president, and would women recognize her when they saw her? 