That's the title of an article by David Cole, in which he analyzes what's gone wrong with the "Trust science!" school of governance that we've had thrown at us ad nauseam for the past couple of years. Here's an excerpt.
The public’s relationship with science should, ideally, be governed by what’s known as “good-faith skepticism.” It’s an assumption going in that scientists are not trying to do harm, and indeed, most sincerely want to do good. But, under certain conditions, be it human error, avarice, political pressure, or competition for grants, even people with decent intentions can foul up.
Good-faith skepticism regarding scientists is vital for a healthy society. It’s a balance: Should it tip too far in one direction (mindless gullibility and acceptance of everything a lab-coater tells you) or the other (automatic dismissal of science as a field and scientists as “Tuskegee Frankensteins”), it’s bad news. And two years of Covid have brought nothin’ but bad news, with some leftists coming to view scientists as gods, and some rightists coming to view them as Mengeles.
The “politician/scientist alliance” (typified by the Democrats and Fauci) has done much to encourage both extremes, exhorting the left to lionize lab-coaters (Fauci literally declaring, “I am science”), and taunting the right with a stubborn refusal to admit errors and uncertainties.
Also, the personal behavior of the alliance members has engendered bad-faith skepticism to a huge degree. The people who tell us we’re gonna die if we (and our children) are maskless have no problem constantly violating their own mask rules. In their personal behavior, they don’t act like there’s an emergency. Ordinary folks pick up on that.
Worse still, some in the alliance seem to be enjoying the pandemic a bit too much. When I see the wide toothy smile on the bony-ass Skeletor face of the New Zealand prime minister every time she announces new lockdowns and mandates, I think, “Jesus, that psychopath’s getting a kick out of this shit.”
If you’re gonna torment your populace in the name of science, at least pretend it’s not making you orgasm.
. . .
But perhaps the biggest giveaway is that not once since the pandemic began have leftist politicians sacrificed ideology for “safety.” Imagine the effect on public behavior had the Biden administration refused to flood the nation with untested, unvaxxed illegals. That would’ve sent a clear message that the Covid crisis is of such importance that Democrats were willing to sacrifice their most beloved policy in the name of controlling the bug. But no. Instead they bragged about letting in unvaxxed and untested Third Worlders.
Or that group of “scientists and doctors” last year who released a public letter stating that BLM protests were more important than Covid precautions. Few things sowed Covid skepticism on the right as much as that. To a great extent, Covid bad-faith skepticism is on the heads of the people who signed that letter.
The “BLM protests are more important than Covid guidelines” declaration was blatantly political in a way that made bad-faith skepticism the commonsense response ... [it] violated a principle set forth by pseudo-skeptics Penn & Teller (“pseudo” in that they only “skepticize” low-hanging fruit like Bigfoots and psychics). P&T (on their old Showtime series) stated that even if vaccines do cause autism, it’s irrelevant because more vaxxed kids are saved from disease than tarderized by autism (video here).
Okay, so on average about a dozen unarmed blacks are shot each year by cops. Compare that with a plague that’s claimed millions. And yet the scientists declared that the small number of black lives outweighed the millions who’d die of Covid.
Well, there goes the P&T doctrine right out the window. And I’m not saying the doctrine is wrong; I’m saying it was dropped the moment it collided with a desired leftist political/ideological goal.
You want bad-faith skepticism? That’s how you get it.
There's more at the link. Recommended reading.
That's it in a nutshell. I'd take our current administration much more seriously if its members weren't constantly being photographed flouting their own much-touted pandemic precautions. Clearly, those precautions apply only to the "little people" - not to those who rule them.
Tar. Feathers. Politicians. Some assembly required.
The report from the Diamond Princess quarantine early on made it pretty clear this is a disease dangerous to the elderly, not to the population at large. A lot of the restrictions made no sense, especially telling everyone to stay indoors so they would NOT make enough Vitamin D much less blanket closing every outdoor exercise venue for almost a year.
ReplyDeleteNow that it is clear obesity is a major risk factor for a severe case a lot of public officials need to be removed from office (at the very least).
Do as I say, Not as I do is just the icing on the cake for generating complete distain for bureaucrats and politicians at every level.
Worshiping scientists by doing everything they say without question is the complete antithesis of science. Fauci's "I am science" is even worse if anything can be.
ReplyDeleteRichard Feynman said, "science is the belief in the ignorance of experts" and that's the way it's supposed to be. No expert is above being challenged.
Gasoline, tire, democrat.
ReplyDeleteFixed it for you.