March for Science?

This past weekend was another anti-Trump march designed, like the "Women's March", to increase its appeal by claiming to be for something most people believe in: Science. To see the feminist movement co-opted that way was not surprising, but I have to say I was disappointed in scientists. Have we really become so beholden to the government that organized science now stands for stagnation rather change? Part of the reason I never completed my Ph.D. is because of the inherent immorality of propitiating oneself to a bureaucrat so that another bureaucrat will sieze the wealth of another human being to pay for your toys.

I consider myself a scientist, but after this past weekend I feel less one of them. At the foundation of my belief system is the axiom "If it disagrees with experiment, then it is wrong.", perhaps the simplest statement of what science means courtesy of Feynman. Also at the core of my belief system is the idea that nonviolence is the best way or "Ahimsa paramo dharma." as Gandhi put it. I believe that human history bears this theory out as the best way to structure human interaction. That is why I volunteer regularly, but do not advocate for any allocation of government funds toward any goal other than lowering taxes. Seizing wealth via taxation is violence. Even for the laudable goal of expanding human knowledge, it still violates the principle of nonviolence. I am self-aware enough, however, to realize that my Asperger's predisposes me to these libertarian beliefs.

I taught my daughters well an appreciation for science, but I fear I failed in the realm of politics. But perhaps once must experience the truncheon firsthand to appreciate how often it is miswielded. I asked my daughter Brittan why she was choosing to march in yet another anti-Trump protest. Did she believe that this march would affect the administration's policies in some way? No, was her answer. Why then was she marching? To show Trump that they were there and watching him and blah, blah, blah... I'm paraphrasing, obviously, but the logical inconsistency in her answers didn't seem to bother her as much as it did me. Caught up by the excitment of the protest culture, it doesn't seem like she's given much thought to what she's advocating.

On the other hand, Alora and I had a great conversation about her volunteering ideas last time I was down there. It was good to hear that she is getting involved with clean water projects around the Chattahoochee much as Cara and I have done here in Nashville. Good, clean water is a necessity of life, and so many of our choices have indirect effects on the streams and rivers we live amongst.

Maxwell, on the other hand, is experiencing a testosterone fueled dalliance into fascism. It's not hard to sense the anti-male sentiment in events like the "Women's March" and he's decided to explore the other side. Additionally, an odd side effect of the media trying to tie Trump to Putin is that Maxwell and his gamer friends have developed an affinity for Russian culture. Although I haven't heard him mention Pepe the Frog or Kekistan, he's really tuning into politics and regularly references articles he's read that day in Business Insider. Of course, jokes where the punchline involves him doing a fascist salute while saying "hail, Putin" are a little disturbing. However, when he requests to watch movies like Ben Hur (the Charlton Heston one), I realize that he's trying to integrate an understanding of the Roman martial culture that is an integral part of what western civilization was built on. It is presented as a viril and inherently masculine one, ergo of natural affinity to a boy going through the transition to manhood.

I did not march for science Saturday. So do I support Trump administration cuts to the science budget? Yes. But I'm guessing he won't cut far enough, and government funding science will limp on whining as it always does of not getting enough taxpayer money rather than being dealt the deathblow that would cause a realistic reorganization of priorities in the American science communities. And if the proposed increases to military funding go through, government funded science will likely even grow, just at the teat of the DOD rather than that of the DOE, NIH or other alphabet soup labels. One always hopes that new presidents will make big changes, but I'm usually left disappointed.