this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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Three prominent researchers warn about the current existential threat in the United States

Helmut Schwarz has been reading about what happened to science during the rise of Adolf Hitler, almost a century ago.

The German chemist just received the Frontiers of Knowledge Award from the BBVA Foundation in Spain, due to his contributions to the field of catalysis. For him, there are parallels between the situation in Nazi Germany and Trump’s United States.

“From 1900 to 1932, a third of all Nobel Prizes went to Germany, more than to the U.S. and the U.K. combined,” he tells EL PAÍS. He and two other scientists sat down with EL PAÍS in Bilbao, where they received their awards.

“When Hitler came to power,” he continues, “German science — which led the world — completely disintegrated. But Hitler thought that wouldn’t be a problem,” he continues. Now, Donald Trump’s administration views universities — supposed hotbeds of progressive ideology — as the enemy. He wants to bring them under his control. “In my opinion, the threat isn’t immediate, but it’s very important in the long term,” Schwarz adds.

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[–] nthavoc@lemmy.today 1 points 1 hour ago

Brain drain is real and researchers in the US are already moving to other countries. Take for example France is enticing Nuclear scientists from the US for the fusion research project. History is definitely repeating itself.

[–] WanderWisley@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

History is written by the winners. Our current history is being rewritten by a crybaby, selfish, nazi.

[–] Mediocre_Bard@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

If you're too stupid to understand basic science and too proud to admit it, then this is the course of action that you follow.

[–] peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 78 points 1 day ago (3 children)

That's the weirdest part of trying to change the "system of science." It's not a system, it's a process, it's rigorous, controlled, and peer reviewed.

What Hitler enabled was psychopaths being allowed to practice torture and murder.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 39 points 1 day ago (7 children)

When he says "the scientific system," he's talking about the institutions we have in the US that educate, employ, conduct research, and/or fund people conducting science. I guess I thought it was obvious he's not referencing the scientific method

[–] Lodespawn@aussie.zone 16 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Oh boy I'd love to hear Donald J Trump's exact thoughts on the scientific method. Every damn thing he's has to say about it will be absolute gold.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 points 1 day ago

He would just parrot whatever the last person he spoke to said about it.

If he didn't talk to anyone about it beforehand, he would just talk about how "beautiful" our scientific methods are.

[–] pivot_root@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

I can give it a try.

We're going to make America great again. Not great, VERY great. Tremendously great. Great economy, great people, great science.

Science today, it's not great. All these WOKE theories and hyperthees. That's not science, that's wasted money. The scientists today, they take our money. They give it to Harvard, woke Harvard. Spend it on DEI, not SCIENCE. They're cheating, taking advantage of HARD WORKING Americans. We don't pay them to ask questions. I KNOW science, that's NOT science. We tell them to do science, they don't DO science. They do SOME science, then they do it AGAIN, asking for money. That's FRAUD.

[–] blattrules@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

“My uncle was a scientist at MIT, so I think I know science better than most people. Also, magnets stop working if they get wet.”

[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 1 points 3 hours ago

Magnets, how do they work?

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[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 48 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So, literally exactly what was promised. In excruciating detail.

It’s mind boggling how Trumps policy is twisted positively so relentlessly. There’s so much deciphering of “oh he really means this writes an essay.” No, his platform means what it says.

Then people are shocked when it happens!

[–] CitizenKong@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nobody took Mein Kampf seriously either.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

Every platform I have warned about the alt-right rise since 2014 has absolutely buried me in downvotes, bans, and months of harassment

You fuckers get what you deserve, next time listen

[–] SolidShake@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This has been the longest and most tiring 6 months I've ever experienced

[–] Nangijala@feddit.dk 1 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Amen, my friend. My spouse keeps telling me to have patience wait for the consequences to hit these clowns. I am just very impatient because I don't want them to succeed in ruining more things for other people before they get what's coming to them.

[–] Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Good on you for marrying someone so optimistic

[–] Nangijala@feddit.dk 3 points 10 hours ago

If he were to reply to your comment I know he would say "I'm not optimistic. I'm realistic." Haha He's great. Genuinely one of the best people I have ever met. Everywhere he goes he makes friends, inspires people and helps them improve themselves. So effortlessly kind and accepting of others. And he always believes things will be made right even if a situation is bleak. The shit he deals with on the daily in his job has broken most people, but not him. His psyche is made of titanium, I swear. No matter what type of day he has had or what he is carrying in silence, he always has emotional bandwidth to be there for others. I love him so much.

[–] okamiueru@lemmy.world 2 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

It takes a lot longer to rebuild the town than it took to burn it down. It's sad that the consequences will take decades to fix if the course is corrected. The US has at this point suffered a lethal dose of radiation, it's dead, but doesn't know it quite yet.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

There's no fixing it, we are done as a unified nation

Go ahead tell me I'm wrong like all the other times I wasn't.

[–] Nangijala@feddit.dk 1 points 20 hours ago

Yeah, thats why I'm so impatient for this shit to end NOW. I don't want to see innocent people have their futures utterly annihilated for years to come. It is so frustrating.

[–] clockworkrat@slrpnk.net 16 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Adrian Tchaikovsky is famous for being a prolific science fiction author.

He should also be known for his disturbingly accurate prediction of current events. I keep reading his work then finding the backstories becoming more realistic (and not in a good way).

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 22 hours ago

i have a feeling many scifi writers are pretty good at predicting "current events/future events" through abstract means, you kinda have to be if you want to be a scifi writer. even pre-2000s shows like simpsons, or scifi shows are good indicators.

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[–] ramble81@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Luckily the reality that science attempts to measure doesn’t care about politics and will still exist no matter what he says. What it does mean is that it’ll be discovered in another country and the US will grow more and more isolated

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

UsA WILL decline like russia does, since russia is known to fund groups like these besides right wing governments.

[–] andxz@lemmy.world 1 points 23 hours ago

As someone looking at this from the outside (and also with an interest in space) the saddest part for me personally has been the decline of NASA. I'm doubtful they will ever get back the prestige they once held after all is said and done. I hope I'm wrong but.. yeah.

Also while I'm on the topic - I have my doubts about the chances of a long term program successful enough to compete in Europe and that only really leaves one major player left on the field: China. Everyone else will presumably be playing catch-up in the foreseeable future unless something drastic happens.

..and with the probable war we are about to have on our hands it's even worse. So much for science.

[–] rumimevlevi@lemmings.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Unfortunatly science is influenced by politics and ideology. Scientific research rely on funding by political and ideological funders

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 22 hours ago

yea, i have read on other platforms that when applying for grants, researchers after to be careful around global warming, like "who is to blame" if they point it as a human cause they are unlikely to get funded(the backers are often billionaire groups who are part of the problem" it would have to be labeled as something abstract to even be considered for funding. but its probably not as hard for every grant though. and i think many people in the PHD field hate doing grant writing , and thats another whole can of worms.

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I'm not sure I've detected an ideology on the right. They seem to be the most idealess people to have ever been pussyshat.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

Hate and fear, fear of not enough, and hate for everyone else who may take it.

It's literally that simple

[–] Nangijala@feddit.dk 2 points 23 hours ago

Their ideology: man is boss. Woman is kitchen. God is science. Money is God.

[–] l_b_i@pawb.social 3 points 1 day ago

There are a couple as I see it. You have the religious fundamentalists, I think this is mainly seen in the rules and court cases allowing people to be asses backed by religion. They also are trying to push their ideas nationwide, this is at odds sometimes with the next group. You have the anti-federalists, to them anything the federal government does is evil (especially if its not their rules). This is the ripping out of all the federal departments. They don't see any good coming from them. Any tax is theft, and any money spent is wasted. (military excluded). The third group is similar to group 2, but they are just anti-regulation. "the free market will figure it out". Now I don't think any of these groups have good ideas, but the only reason they are doing what they are doing is because they have ideas and have been working on it for a long time.

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 4 points 1 day ago

Are these guys just now figuring this out?

[–] AbnormalHumanBeing@lemmy.abnormalbeings.space 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Psychopaths, sycophants and grifters vying for power were all very prevalent at German universities and research labs at that time. While Engineering still kind of worked - as it was needed for the war machinery and larger industry - even there, with it being "politically neutral", there was a brain drain - because education allowing for creative thinking was curtailed more broadly, and many talented minds were killed or displaced or even just disfavoured in favour of more nepotistic choices.

And the myth of "German engineering" being fundamentally way above allied engineering during the war still holds in some circles, when mostly it was about different priorities (like - reliability instead of complex engineering, or the proximity fuse instead of rocketry, or radar instead of jet engines), and even in the spaces where Germans had a leg up on their enemies, it was not a fundamental advantage, but a gap that was being bridged even before German scientists were recruited after the war.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

As much as history was distorted, the Nazis regime still fancied itself as secular and intellectual, right?

This one seems to view the scientific establishment as a distrusted obstacle, corrupt. There’s not even the pretense. Demolishing “woke” science is the stated point.

[–] AbnormalHumanBeing@lemmy.abnormalbeings.space 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Sort of, they also had weird currents of esoteric nonsense, like "Welteislehre" for example. Or Himmlers expeditions to Tibet to find the origins of the master race and evidence of supetnatural abilities. They believed themselves to be secular and anticlerical, but they had their own cult with superstitions.

And they absolutely hated some scientists, relativity was a thorn in their eyes, for example, as "Jewish Science".

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[–] lobut@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Those of you that paid attention during the evolution and creationism (the round 2) fiasco should be familiar with what's going on right now.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 22 hours ago

we were there with intelligent design as well.

[–] yucandu@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I remember during the GWBush years they tried this whole "put the 10 commandments in classrooms" thing, and they quietly pulled them after students started applying those 10 commandments to their teachers, religious leaders, parents, politicians...

They don't ACTUALLY want these kids learning the Bible because the Bible teaches love and generosity.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Thing is I think W was naive enough to kinda believe in that stuff. The bunch in charge now don’t at all, but they want the idolatry and compulsory indoctrination by coercion.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 22 hours ago

they also dont want the bible being applied to them too(the ones in charge). they just want followers.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I say let them.

Iran was a progressive country once too and look how it is now. Also look at it's power nowadays. The US wants to be Gillead from the handmaid's tale? Then go ahead. You'll be a third world country, unable to feed your own population, within a few years.

Good luck

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 22 hours ago

it was progressive, until the USA backed the shah of iran, which turned into islamic state because of the USA meddling.

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[–] Jhex@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

good, nothing would destroy the USA harder in the long term

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