Trump 2.0 And Science Denial -- Alice In Wonderland For The 21st Century
We failed to see a time ahead in which corporations normalize authoritarianism under the guise of a 'revolution' -- through science denial.
"Alice in Wonderland" by whale05 is licensed under CC BY 2.0. | Article originally published on CleanTechnica
Probably like you, I've been trying to figure out why the Trump administration is rife with science denial. At first I attributed it to anti-intellectualism. With that, I thought, went an ideological mindset in which people identified with superficialities like He Who Dies with the Most Toys Wins. But that didn't quite answer many questions I had about science denial, so I've been researching and reading -- a lot.
The renowned writing process guru, Donald Murray, once said that, as soon as you discover a new term, the world bombards you with information about it. And Professor Murray was right.
There it was before me in this week's headlines. Of course, the Trump 2.0 regime would be a bunch of science denial mouthpieces. They're interested in waste, obsolescence, consumption, and a needy citizenry, all of which feed profits. Science is forward-looking, innovative, and disruptive. It is stark in the way it slaps you across your face with your falsely-held beliefs.
But people who ascribe to science denial have been invited into the US White House. And their reach has been broad and deep. If science provides evidence that undermines the logic and social good of profitable endeavors, then it's not the corporations that must go -- it's science.
Off with their heads!
So clean energy -- that endless, renewable source -- can't really be part of a comprehensive energy mix, according to the Big Oil sycophants. And vaccines, military reductions, New Deal programs like Social Security and Medicare, an entry level immigrant workforce, and sustainable agriculture must also fall by the wayside. And, because democracy in the US has built-in checks-and-balances to protect its citizens, democracy must go, too.
The logical path to this conclusion is quite disturbing, as meticulously outlined by Paul Krugman and Robert Reich.
The Roots of Science Denial: Self-Interest and Profitability
Political power influences the market value of cash holdings, and it's no secret that a handful of wealthy donors dominate electoral giving and spending in the US. The Brennan Center for Justice says dark money groups mask the identities of their donors, preventing voters from knowing who’s trying to influence them.
The secret is to surround yourself with people who make your heart smile. It’s then, only then, that you’ll find Wonderland.
Paul Krugman describes in a recent Substack post how a confluence of self-serving Republican science denial influencers have changed the narrative about evidence-based research.
The fossil fuel industry doesn't want anyone studying climate change.
Conspiracy theorists who make much of their money selling quack medical remedies are hostile to conventional medicine.
Practitioners of voodoo economics don’t want anyone looking into the actual results of cutting taxes on the rich.
Nativists proclaiming an immigrant crime wave don’t want anyone examining who commits violent crimes.
Perhaps you counter this argument why special interest groups want to control scientific inquiry. You may say that scientific leadership and the prestige of our research universities are essential elements of US power and prosperity. Scientific and educational institutions, after all, start the R&D that leads to innovation and eventual corporate prosperity.
We're all mad here.
However, science that is deprived of government support becomes enervated. Private firms seeking profit, Krugman notes, won't typically devote the resources to future systemic change. They're focused heavily on quarterly earnings and immediate market demands and lack the incentive or appetite for long-term investments in uncertain technologies.
So an executive order (EO) was issued May 23, titled “Restoring Gold Standard Science.” It is supposed to be about restoring “scientific integrity,” but it would actually give political appointees the right to “correct scientific information” and to “forward potential violations to the relevant human resources officials for discipline.”
Now it takes all the running possible for science to keep in the same place.
An open letter signed by thousands of scientists has voiced objections, saying their discipline should be "decentralized and self-scrutinizing." Reframing the EO as "Fool's Gold," the scientists affirm their continued pledge to rigorous science, as defined by their field, not the White House. They call for swift social and legal actions against what they see as an illegal EO that represents dangerous overreach into scientific systems. They demand freedom of inquiry without governmental influence or interference.
Meanwhile, new NASA data shows an extraordinary increase in extreme weather events like droughts and floods around the world.
Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle.
Look at AI and Its Contradiction to Science Denial
Robert Reich has been looking closely at artificial intelligence (AI) lately. He's seen a pattern of political influence related to AI that is stark in its science denial essence.
He asks us to draw a circle around all the assets in the US now devoted to AI. A second circle around all the assets devoted to the US military. A third around all assets being devoted to helping the Trump regime collect and compile personal information on millions of Americans. And a fourth circle around the parts of Silicon Valley dedicated to turning the US away from a democracy into a libertarian dictatorship led by tech bros.
Reich points us to their insidious commonality: a corporation called Palantir Technologies and a man named Peter Thiel. The danger inherent in Palantir’s AI-powered super database on everyone in the US, Reich continues, "is connected to the vast wealth and power of those associated with the corporation and their apparent disdain for democratic institutions."
Everything's a moral if you can only find it.
Palantir Technologies sells an AI-based data platform that allows its users like military and law enforcement agencies to analyze personal data, including social media profiles, personal information, and physical characteristics. These are used to identify and surveil individuals, as their website delineates.
Our software powers real-time, AI-driven decisions in critical government and commercial enterprises in the West, from the factory floors to the front lines... Autonomously deploy, monitor, and manage software across any environment.
Thiel didn't even try to hide his intentions when he named his company -- JRR Tolkien used the term "palantir" in the Lord of the Rings to describe a seeing stone that can be used to distort truth and present selective visions of reality. During Tolkein's War of the Ring, a palantir falls under the control of Sauron, who uses it to manipulate and deceive.
If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there.
Did you know that Trump signed an EO requiring all agencies and departments of the federal government to share data on US residents? Palantir Technologies is the company assigned to make it happen across the Department of Homeland Security, Defense Department, Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, and Internal Revenue Service.
Your bank account numbers and medical claims are now open sourced.
What a small world this is!
Thirteen former Palantir employees signed a letter -- subtitled "The Scouring of the Shire" -- urging the corporation to stop its endeavors with Trump. Among other revelations, the letter argues that "Big Tech, including Palantir, is increasingly complicit, normalizing authoritarianism under the guise of a 'revolution' led by oligarchs. We must resist this trend."
With apologies to Lewis Carroll.