by Ace
When they say “Trust Science,” what they really mean, of course, is Trust Scientists.
Should we trust scientists? Should we treat them as if they are not fallible humans, given to bigotries, hatreds, and political agendas, but instead lab-coated earthbound angels sent by God Himself to rectify us?
No. Why no, we should not do that.Chan was one of 18 scientists who published a letter in the journal Science last month calling for a more in-depth investigation into the virus’s origin that takes into account theories about both natural occurrence and laboratory spillovers. The letter helped kick-start a new round of calls to investigate the “lab leak hypothesis,” including demands from President Joe Biden and several leading scientists.And while public discussion of a potential lab leak has shifted significantly in recent months, as more people pay attention to a theory that was originally promulgated by former President Donald Trump and his followers, the scientific evidence has remained unchanged, according to interviews with five virologists who have experience in microbiology, infectious disease ecology and viral evolution.
…The shift reflects how some scientists who previously avoided the topic or were quick to dismiss it are grappling with enduring uncertainties about the virus’s origin, free from the politicization that clouded such discussions during the Trump administration.Passive voice.
Who was doing the politicizing?
You might think it was the Holy Scientists hiding evidence from the public just because a man from the opposite party said something true.
But no, the politicization either spontaneously self-assembled, or was due to the Bad Orange Man.
Chan said there had been trepidation among some scientists about publicly discussing the lab leak hypothesis for fear that their words could be misconstrued or used to support racist rhetoric about how the coronavirus emerged. Trump fueled accusations that the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a research lab in the city where the first Covid-19 cases were reported, was connected to the outbreak, and on numerous occasions he called the pathogen the “Wuhan virus” or “kung flu.”
“At the time, it was scarier to be associated with Trump and to become a tool for racists, so people didn’t want to publicly call for an investigation into lab origins,” she said.
Noting that the virus was released by the Chinese government says nothing about Chinese people. Especially about Chinese Americans.
This entire claim — that to impugn the Chinese government is to impugn Chinese people generally, even those far outside of China — is actually Chinese government propaganda.
And Americans who are Maoism-curious are happy to spread Communist Chinese government propaganda.