If you follow a lot of health accounts, you might have seen a sudden upsurge of interest from them (us included) in the 2024 American Presidential election following the official inclusion of Robert F, Kennedy Jr. into the Trump campaign on 23rd August 2024. This development was lauded by many leaders in the alternative health community who have always criticised corrupt public health institutions as being at the root of much of the poor health in the modern world. They voiced strong support for the Trump campaign following RFK’s backing.
The Story of MAHA- “Make America Healthy Again”, a health-focused alternative to Trump’s original MAGA slogan, revolves around this one man. The nephew of former US president the late John F. Kennedy, RFK has a long history as an environment lawyer who has successfully fought for the health of the public against corporate giants and their corrupt practices and lobbying. He has won historic lawsuits against corporate giants like Monsanto and DuPont (which is the plot for the movie “Dark Waters” starring Mark Ruffalo). He’s done a lot to expose the evils of Big Food and Big Pharma.
In the last decade or so, his work has primarily focused on exposing the harms of vaccines and fighting for vaccine-injured individuals, for which he has been widely smeared all over mainstream media. He has been relegated to an underground figure- an anti-v*xxer who shouldn’t be taken seriously.
“I spent 30 years trying to get mercury out of fish. No one called me anti-fish.” RFK once famously remarked regarding anti-v*ccine allegations against him.
When RFK was running as an independent candidate previously, he received a lot of traction and was cheered on by his supporters- even though no one really expected anything to come out of it. Now that he’s joined Trump though, things get real. Hence, the hype.
Together with Trump, RFK claims to have a plan to clean up the system.
That’s essentially what “MAHA” is supposed to be. Their stated goals include reducing corporate influence in public health institutions, removing toxins in the food supply, tackling the chronic disease epidemic, promoting regenerative agriculture and preserving natural habitats.
That is a tall order. And many enthusiasts are hopeful. But undoing decades of systemic corruption and bad practices is no easy task. It’s one that involves going head-on against the deep state. Trump himself might prove to be a hindrance in RFK’s plans, some speculate, given his pro-industry track record. But we can still hope for a few positive changes, at least, we think- if things work out.
Lastly, why should we, here in India or other people outside of the US, care about any of this? Because we live in a global economy that is led by the USA. Most industry trends as well as public health policies, world over, are initiated by the USA. For example, it was the US that introduced hydrogenated vegetable fats to the world in the 1910s with CRISCO and it was only after the US FDA started banning the same recently in 2018 after realising the dangers of trans fats that the other countries started following suit. The USDA dietary guidelines are regarded as a benchmark for dietary guidelines the world over. Big Food and Big Pharma have their roots in the US
We’re curious to know what you guys think about all of this. What are your thoughts on MAHA and do you think things could really change if RFK comes to power? Let us know in the comments.