Politics

It’s now critical to understand the larger goal sits behind the destruction of the federal government’s support of science and the scientific method across the United States.

What’s going on? Part of it is sheer grift. In U.S. research, vast amounts of money have traditionally been awarded by those who know the field and given to those best positioned to conduct investigations in areas that are current priorities and who have teams capable of doing the work. But any quasi-neutral process appears to be anathema to the Trump administration, which seems to prefer it when all money and access flow directly from the White House.

It’s true that even before Trump’s arrival on the scene, the U.S. has had a long history of anti-expert know-nothing movements. There’s always been a niche for them because many people without a good education—and frankly, many who have one—remain vulnerable to swindlers. In addition, the powerful have long tended to take advantage of the powerless. But as much as that, the government has often served moneyed interests more than it has its constituents.

One of the reasons for so much rage against conventional Democratic leaders from Bill Clinton forward is the sense that they, too, have played a part in this kind of self-dealing politics. Have the Republicans done it more openly, with more contempt for their base? Yes. But the sense of betrayal from traditional Democratic voters is palpable.

Now Trump is making that tendency among elected officials much, much worse. And he’s tapping into ongoing resentments for his own benefit as he goes along. The anti-vaccine movement, the fluoride paranoia, the Jade Helm panic that Obama was planning to put everyday people in concentration camps—all of these predate Trump’s time in office.

But he aims to capitalize on those kinds of fears and resentments by redirecting them. He tries to convince voters that they’re being hoodwinked, that everything is a hoax. And rather than have them realize the degree to which he’s robbing them blind, he’s turning their rage against anyone who is part of the existing government system.