Science works by assessing probabilities, as in the case of the Covid pandemic and how much infection, mortality it could cause. We also know neither the vaccine nor the efficacy of the vaccine discriminated along political lines. However, social polarization did because social media proved a disruptive and unreliable force. It is based on subjective inputs, multiplying misinformation thanks to algorithms created to stoke dog whistles.
Thus, as the Covid pandemic erupted in 2020, we in the more objective realm of science, watched appalled as kooks and ignoramuses skewered the brains of too many Americans, e.g.
And:
The New Tea Party: A Mask-Less, Glove-Less, Clue-Less Right-Wing Cohort That Trump And Fox Heartily Support
That skewering of brain cells resulted in many more deaths, especially in red states, as too many gobbled up mumbo jumbo like opting for ivermectin over vaccines, e.g.
Yes, even morons like Aaron Rodgers got into the act, boasting how he achieved immunity without vaccines.
Who you gonna believe? A serious epidemiologist like Dr. Anthony Fauci, or a Packers start QB? It turned out way too many tuned into Rodgers, and his related quack offerings, resulting in the rejection of objective reality i.e.
costing hundreds of thousands more lives. The antidote to this wholesale stupidity could have been objectivity, but that was in too short supply - especially given the leader at the time (Trump) didn't believe it himself - instead ridiculing masks and not admitting he got vaccinated until too much havoc (and deaths) had already been wrought. Including his inane advocacy of bleach injection, e.g.
Meanwhile, serious scientists - relying on objectivity - did their damndest to beat back ignorant twaddle conspiracy bunkum, such as the virus being created in a Chinese lab, e.g.
Was coronavirus bioengineered in a lab? Tulane scientist debunks this conspiracy theory
So what conclusions can one draw from what transpired at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, given we may soon be confronting an Avian flu pandemic? (With the same orange idiot once again in office).
First, political polarization - spread on social media and by ignorant political voices as well as medical quacks - is our biggest enemy. And just as surely as this array of twits came out against Dr. Fauci we know they will come out again sane voices if bird flu should erupt, questioning the value of any vaccine available.
Second, ideology - wherever it emerges - obscures reality, and need not arise only from religious sources. We saw it arise during the Covid-19 pandemic when dubious voices like those of Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton kept pounding on the Chinese lab conspiracy baloney. A totally ideological position that was soundly skewered, as shown in the earlier link. But too many otherwise sane people bought into this humbug, including Jon Stewart, e.g.
Third, at root ideological polarization - especially - is a form of othering, viewing individuals based on group identities. As such polarization reaches extremes, as it did four years ago, the targets - such as Dr. Fauci - are demonized and even receive threats. Trump's toadies even went so far as to threaten him with prosecution and punishment, which is why Joe Biden delivered a pre-emptive pardon. Why take chances on a nutso, power hungry madman -who's already proven he does what he says?
Fourth, we need to grasp such polarization goes hand in hand with confirmation bias. The tendency for too many to gravitate to that evidence that supports their preferred position while discounting evidence that opposes it. Thus, those like Tom Cotton could discount the reams of evidence for Covid 19 initiated in nature, in favor of his preferred belief that 'evil' Chinese biologists hatched it in a Wuhan lab - and likely with Fauci's help.
What we know now is that objectivity is what's needed most in these parlous times, especially when we may be on the cusp of an even deadlier pandemic - and an unhinged pack of extremists renegades are taking a wrecking ball to agencies which could be key to our survival.
Will truth and triumph prevail? Only if a rational basis for equitable solutions can be found, but this demands the rejection of wholesale propaganda - which is currently spreading like misinformation. For more on the dangers of propaganda, go to:
Nothing to fret about? In a speech to the National Conservatism Conference in 2021, J.D. Vance - our VP - had the nerve to say:
"So much of what drives truth and knowledge as we understand it in this country is fundamentally determined by, supported by and reinforced by the universities. Why have conservatives consented to such intellectual tyranny?"
Failing to grasp, despite being a Yale grad, that it is within the university that scientific objectivity reaches its apex. Also failing to grasp that truth and knowledge are not the province of liberals or conservatives. It is accessible to both, but must be pursued in a rigorous, rational way not upended by emotions, ideology or the errors of confirmation bias. And we ought to all be worried that the Trumpsters in the guise of the DOGE insanity are targeting - not just 'woke' academia - but all of it including the hard sciences. As Michelle Goldberg writes in her recent NYT column:
"This is the context for the Trump administration’s attempt to slash research funding from the National Institutes of Health. "
An infernally bad move before what could be the most devastating pandemic in human history. And emanating from what was once the most scientifically literate and advanced nation on Earth.
See Also:
by Dean Baker | February 15, 2025 - 6:21am | permalink» article continues...
— from Beat the Press blog.
Washington Post columnist Matt Bai had a piece this week in which he implied that people did not realize the enormous political power that Elon Musk would have by taking ownership of a huge social media platform like Twitter.
“Musk’s purchase of Twitter in 2022 is a useful case study here. At the time, the $44 billion impulse buy seemed like an act of petulance and bad business acumen, and by some measures it was; Musk terrorized and fired its employees, vacillated between business models, drove away advertisers and ultimately lost billions.
“In retrospect, though, most of us who laughed at his hubris can see that Musk pulled off something remarkable. Whatever havoc he wreaked on the platform for its users and engineers, Musk created for himself the loudest personal microphone in the country — the modern equivalent of Horace Greeley’s New-York Tribune. Musk’s dominance of Twitter took his cultural and political influence to a new level and made it possible for him to become the second-most powerful man in Washington. Not a bad return on investment.”
And:
And:
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