As if you haven't heard already, Disneyland is a great place formagic, moments, chance meetings with giant mice—and themeasles.

Let's talk about what doesn't belong in that list (who doesn'tlove a good game of the “one of these things is not like theother?”)

The measles outbreak tied to Disneyland has spilled over statelines and into Mexico, infecting, at press time, about 140 people.The majority of those infected had not received themeasles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccine. Other cases spread tobabies too young to get vaccinated.

The biggest issue with this is that the outbreak was acompletely avoidable problem (and don't just take my word for it,take the word of U.S. health officials). This is a disease nearlyeradicated by modern medicine, which makes an outbreak all the moreinfuriating. It's a comeback we simply don't need.

Sure, we can talk about a series of mishaps that led to theoutbreak. We can put blame on a highly packed theme park. We cansay that vaccines are never a 100 percent guarantee that you won'tget sick. We can throw problems with medical access and costs intothe mix. But at the root of the issue are those who chose to forgo,or delay, vaccines for themselves or their children. Here we have agroup of people who are single handedly making an outbreak likemeasles much more likely.

I've got a problem with the Jenny McCarthys of the world. Theconspiracists. The fearmongers. The personal liberty fighters. Or,perhaps most accurately, the me-me-mes of the world. These are thepeople who latch on to the now-disputed claim that vaccinations areat the root of autism. These are the people who need to constantlyfight The Man. They make irresponsible choices for their childrenwho are too young to have a voice. And in doing so they teach theirchildren to not consider others in their actions.

Because not vaccinating is selfish.

Thinking about others is what living in a civilized nation isabout. It's not just about what you think is good for yourself andyour body or the body of your defenseless kid. The fact is thatyour health can, and does, directly affect other people.

In the case of vaccines, you're not only getting it to protectyourself. You're also getting it to protect others—especially thosewho have a weakened immune system, such as the sick or elderly—orthose who are unable to get vaccinated—infants or pregnant people.These also are the people who can die from such a disease.

It's appropriate that the outbreak is rooted in Disneylandbecause all these people who aren't getting vaccines or don't thinkit's a problem are living in Fantasyland.