Took my homeschooled son for his basketball physical today. Predictably, the physician immediately pivoted to pushing multiple vaccines. When I declined, he pressed for justification.

My response was direct: “I don’t trust your institution or the regulatory framework governing it.” He launched into rehearsed statistics, the same talking points designed to manufacture consent through appeals to authority rather than genuine informed consent.

I cut through the theater: “He’s my child, not yours.”

The conversation ended there. No coercion, no further attempts at manipulation. Just acceptance of parental authority as it should be