Derek Lowe is a chemist who writes a blog for the journal Science, which you can easily tell what it is about by the title. I like simplicity.
Lowe has been covering the backslide into fascist anti-science that we’ve seen for quite a while now, and his series on what is happening now is a must-read for anyone who cares about saving one of the greatest strengths of America – our science. His latest raises some questions about why they are doing it.
In “The Continuing Crisis, Part XIV: The Trumpist Worldview,” Derek Lowe examines the deliberate efforts by individuals aligned with Trumpist ideologies to dismantle federally funded science agencies. He argues that these actions are intentional, aiming to erode scientific institutions and undermine public trust in science. Lowe highlights the broader implications of this worldview, emphasizing the need to recognize and address these challenges to preserve the integrity of scientific research and its role in informing public policy.Â
Anti-science is built on delusion, and the patron saint of this brand of delusional is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the bad Kennedy Jr. Right now, he is doing insane stuff like appointing a medical influencer who lied about finishing her residency and is basically an online right-wing misinformation loon. Just in case she is the disaster that she inevitably will be, Trump did the blame two-step ahead of time – this was “Bobby’s” call:
REPORTER: You just announced a new nominee for US Surgeon General who never finished her residency, and is not a practicing physician. So can you explain why you picked her to be America's top doctor?TRUMP: Because Bobby thought she was fantastic … I don't know her
The fact of the matter is that a lot of people want to say whatever stupid thing pops into their head or share the latest bullshit they saw on Facebook or Instagram without any challenge. Science doesn’t work that way. In science, if you come up with an idea or premise, you have to prove it with actual facts, data, rigorous testing, etc.
To the MAGA crew, this is either a foreign concept or an infringement on their rights, because reality itself infringes on their rights. It’s okay to a point when the people who say horse paste cures COVID or vaccines have brain-control chips in them are regular old schmoes, but when they get power, it’s very bad.
In the comments in Lowe’s piece were a few “both sides are just as bad on science,” and wow, that’s just not true. Speaking of facts and data, well, the facts and data do not support this. Democrats are much more pro-science than Republicans.
I suppose some of that belief is based on the crunchy granola leftists who rejected vaccines and believed the hype about homeopathic remedies and supplements, which in and of itself is okay, but when you apply “the medical industry is about greed and these companies are not,” then it becomes ridiculous. Of course, the medical industry is terrible; they’re corporations, but so are many of the supplement slingers. Supplements for Suckers has become a billion-dollar industry.
In fact, one of the underreported factors of the 2024 election was the New Age-y, hippie-ish types that were allegedly lefties went full on right in support of RKF Jr. New York Magazine dared to wade into these bizarre waters this month.
And besides, no university researchers were panicking about their field being destroyed during the Biden administration, nor are there Democratic elected officials obsessed with killing scientific research. That’s all going on over there on the right. Plus, attempts to claim Democrats or progressives are also anti-science tend to be ham-fisted, like when Very Serious Centrist Thinker Emma Green at The Atlantic mocked people who were still wearing masks and social distancing after the COVID vaccine was introduced, declaring the pandemic more or less done. After her early May 2021 opinion piece, hundreds of thousands of Americans still died. So, please, enough of that nonsense.
When the powerful get to destroy science, then they get to destroy any pushback to their goofy and dangerous ideas. Again, MAGA people and even some centrists might not like it when they are asked to provide proof and to practice, gasp, critical thinking, and that’s bad enough. When an authoritarian government is attempting to take down the greatest scientific community the world has ever seen, the one I am proud to be part of as a science writer at a major university, nothing good can come of it; only very bad.
The last word goes to Thomas Dolby because of course it does.