Seems reasonable - the temporary eradication of the flu did raise red flags. One thing, though. In your conclusion you make a non-specific call for revolution. I hope/presume that is hyperbolic - I don't endorse that. I believe it is important though to understand the pandemic not merely as garden-variety corruption but as a structural problem within our political system. I argue that our wholesale integration of science into the fabric of our political system is a mistake. Politics is about messy/dirty distribution of power whereas science in its truest form is almost religious search for truth. Just as there is a the firewall of the separation of church and state, there must be an equal separation of science and state. I write about it here: https://peteryim.substack.com/p/separation-of-science-and-state
Government has a legitimate role to play in using and advancing science; that we have had a very corrupt government for some years should not negate the proper role of non-partisan government in using science for the public good. As a former official at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment who testified over 50 times at House and Senate hearing I know how government should interact with science. Yes, we do need a revolution to reform our government and rid it of all the corruption.
We probably have to agree to disagree. I will just clarify that I don't deny the golden age of US-government-sponsored scientific research. I just argue that it has gone off the rails and a deeper political philosophical perspective is needed - not just rewind the clock. I am arguing that the seeds of scientific corruption are intrinsic to the US government as currently constructed.
Seems reasonable - the temporary eradication of the flu did raise red flags. One thing, though. In your conclusion you make a non-specific call for revolution. I hope/presume that is hyperbolic - I don't endorse that. I believe it is important though to understand the pandemic not merely as garden-variety corruption but as a structural problem within our political system. I argue that our wholesale integration of science into the fabric of our political system is a mistake. Politics is about messy/dirty distribution of power whereas science in its truest form is almost religious search for truth. Just as there is a the firewall of the separation of church and state, there must be an equal separation of science and state. I write about it here: https://peteryim.substack.com/p/separation-of-science-and-state
Government has a legitimate role to play in using and advancing science; that we have had a very corrupt government for some years should not negate the proper role of non-partisan government in using science for the public good. As a former official at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment who testified over 50 times at House and Senate hearing I know how government should interact with science. Yes, we do need a revolution to reform our government and rid it of all the corruption.
We probably have to agree to disagree. I will just clarify that I don't deny the golden age of US-government-sponsored scientific research. I just argue that it has gone off the rails and a deeper political philosophical perspective is needed - not just rewind the clock. I am arguing that the seeds of scientific corruption are intrinsic to the US government as currently constructed.