Scary; Attacks on Science........

[beecee]

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-science-rival-covid-health-threat.html

Attacks on science rival COVID-19 as a public health threat:

As public health experts feared, COVID-19 cases and deaths surged in the US following the Thanksgiving holiday, when millions of Americans ignored pleas to forego traditional gatherings. In a new Essay published 28th January in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, "Anti-science kills: from Soviet embrace of pseudoscience to accelerated attacks on US biomedicine," vaccine and infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Hotez explains how the richest country in the world allowed the pandemic to spiral out of control.

extract:                                                                                                                                                        Dr. Hotez revisits a dark chapter in the history of the Soviet Union—the "Great Purge," when Stalin persecuted and executed scientists and millions of other so-called enemies of the state—to remind readers of the terrible fate that can befall citizens when their government leaders exploit science for political gain.

 

the paper:

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001068

Anti-science kills: From Soviet embrace of pseudoscience to accelerated attacks on US biomedicine:

 

Abstract:

The United States witnessed an unprecedented politicization of biomedical science starting in 2015 that has exploded into a complex, multimodal anti-science empire operating through mass media, political elections, legislation, and even health systems. Anti-science activities now pervade the daily lives of many Americans, and threaten to infect other parts of the world. We can attribute the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans from COVID-19, measles, and other vaccine-preventable diseases to anti-science. The acceleration of anti-science activities demands not only new responses and approaches but also international coordination. Vaccines and other biomedical advances will not be sufficient to halt COVID-19 or future potentially catastrophic illnesses, unless we simultaneously counter anti-science aggression.

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Sadly, this isn't peculiar to the USA. We have our own anti vaxers in Australia also, and those that refuse the lockdowns, wearing of masks, social distancing etc.

I also received this from an old mate now living in England...Scary is an understatement!!!

 


https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/26/covid-denier-told-hell-die-as-she-tries-to-take-oap-from-hospital-13965466/

Covid denier is told OAP she wants to take from ward ‘will die in half an hour

Edited January 28, 2021 by beecee

[CharonY]

1 hour ago, beecee said:

Sadly, this isn't peculiar to the USA. We have our own anti vaxers in Australia also, and those that refuse the lockdowns, wearing of masks, social distancing etc.

I also received this from an old mate now living in England...Scary is an understatement!!!

The only thing I would object to is that starting date. Many aspects of science, including biomedical, have been politicized for much longer. As you mentioned vaccines, abortion, birth control, GMOs and so on have all been target of politicization for far longer.

The issue was always if there science clashes with something that folks strongly believe in it takes a backseat. Political parties often have built identities around those issues (or it organically formed around them, depending on where you are).