From Endless Frontier to Enemy of the People: The Assault on Public Science
3 hours ago
- #Science and Politics
- #Public Health and Climate
- #Disinformation Campaigns
- Climate scientist Michael Mann and vaccine scientist Peter Hotez describe coordinated attacks on science, including disinformation, harassment, and legal tactics, which have become routine in politically contentious fields.
- The authors identify five reinforcing forces (plutocrats, petro-states, pros, protagonists, and the press) that systemically undermine publicly funded science, turning it from a celebrated 'endless frontier' into a target.
- Plutocrats, such as wealthy individuals and companies, fund efforts to discredit research threatening their interests, using think tanks, litigation, and media campaigns to sow doubt.
- Petro-states, like Russia and Saudi Arabia, align state power with corporate interests to attack science, with echoes in the U.S. during deregulatory periods, blurring lines between scientific inquiry and political control.
- 'Pros' are credentialed experts who manufacture doubt on issues like climate change and vaccines, often backed by industry, while 'protagonists' (influencers and platforms) amplify these narratives through social media and conspiracy theories.
- The press, including mainstream outlets, often creates false balance by treating fringe dissent as equal to expert consensus, confusing the public and normalizing misinformation.
- Reform proposals include collective scientific action, political reforms to counter polarization, and regulating disinformation infrastructure, though many face political and First Amendment challenges.
- Legal system abuses, such as open-records laws and subpoena powers, enable harassment of scientists; targeted legal reforms could curb these tactics without waiting for broader political shifts.
- A tension exists between distinguishing orchestrated assaults on science and legitimate scientific dissent, with a need for criteria to protect good-faith skepticism while preventing bad-faith controversy.
- The book shifts focus from individual grievances to institutional diagnosis, highlighting how power structures threaten scientific truth and why confronting these forces is urgent.