--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was perverse - it appeared in…" description: "\"“It was perverse - it appeared in industrialized nations, but it left poor people alone. George Carlin even made a joke about it. He grew up poor. He a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/liam-scheff-189605_poor-people_it-was-perverse-it-appeared-in-industria_115037.jpg" --- # It was perverse - it appeared in industrialized nations… ![“It was perverse - it appeared in industrialized nations, but it left poor people alone. George Carlin even made a joke about it. He grew up poor. He and his friends “swam in the raw sewage” of the East River. “It gave us immune systems,” he said. “Unlike you rich pussies!” He was joking, but what…” quote by Liam Scheff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/liam-scheff-189605_poor-people_it-was-perverse-it-appeared-in-industria_115037.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/liam-scheff-189605_poor-people_it-was-perverse-it-appeared-in-industria_115037.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/liam-scheff-189605_poor-people_it-was-perverse-it-appeared-in-industria_115037.jpg) > ““It was perverse - it appeared in industrialized nations, but it left poor people alone. George Carlin even made a joke about it. He grew up poor. He and his friends “swam in the raw sewage” of the East River. “It gave us immune systems,” he said. “Unlike you rich pussies!” He was joking, but what if he was half right? What were the mothers of middle-class children doing that the poor weren't? It didn't act like a plague. It appeared in summer. Adults never got it from children. People didn't “pass” it. It came out of nowhere and exploded in clusters. Whole schools would be taken down by a flash of profound muscular weakness, leaving some paralyzed and killing a few. Industrial history had demonstrated that neurological and paralytic Illnesses tended to act just this way - to explode, violently, in clusters. But among academic scientists, there was no interest in toxins. The going concern in medicine was to nail down tiny particles. Pollution was not on the agenda. Instead, the focus went to something invisible that could perhaps be filtered from blood. Something never seen, but suspected to be there. These invisibles would be blamed for all illness. And vaccines would be invented to stop them. “Just as Pasteur and Jenner had done,”” Liam Scheff ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A historical illness disproportionately affected the poor, highlighting societal neglect and the focus on invisible threats over tangible causes. **In simple terms:** Illness exposed class disparities and scientific blind spots. Key Takeaway Address health inequities and broaden research focus. Themes public health social inequality history science policy Mood critical concerned analytical Type Poor people:1 George Carlin:0 Plague Appeared:0 Vaccines Invented:0 Scientists Toxins:0 Perverse Appeared:0 Illnesses Tended:0 When to use this quote - medical research - social justice activism - public policy debates Key Concepts environmental health epidemiology Questions to Reflect On - Why are marginalized groups often blamed for disease? - How can research prioritize visible over invisible threats? A Different Perspective Complex causality may be oversimplified. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poor people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-people/) ## Related quotes > [“disease that was in Mexico during the 16th century,” Acuña-Soto said. “This sounded like a hemorrhagic fever. So if the Spanish didn’t bring about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-marsa/disease-that-was-in-mexico-during-the-16th-century-acu-a-soto-said/) [Linda Marsa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-marsa/) > [The only kinds of ways we have to deal with viruses are old school, so vaccines for example are very effective, but the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/the-only-kinds-of-ways-we-have-to-deal-with-viruses-are-old-school-so/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [“Why should I have to hide the fact that I don't believe there’s a supreme being? There’s no proof of it. 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