Mar 7

Mar 7 Stand Up for Science

Demonstrations, Donald J. Trump, Performance, Protest, Public Declarations

On April 22, 2017, several hundred thousand people rallied in support of science in major cities throughout the United States. The inaugural Stand Up For Science rally was held in response to the Donald J. Trump’s hostilities toward science and evidence-based policymaking. At the time, the demonstrators were focused on Trump’s refusal to acknowledge climate change and the problems it poses for humanity. According to the Chicago Tribune, somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 people participated in Chicago’s rally and march.

Fast forward nine years: Today, at best, 100 people attended the annual Stand Up for Science rally in Chicago’s Federal Plaza. While climate change was certainly on the agenda, thanks to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., vaccines and diet were today’s dominant issues.

Not surprisingly, the cadre of speakers came from the world of science and medicine. Many were affiliated with local universities. Dr. Jack Szostak, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2009, was the most notable speaker.

Given all the universities, hospitals, research organizations, and pharmaceutical companies in the Chicago-area, thousands should have once again turned out. The vast majority of educated elites in this country are disgusted by Trump for countless reasons. Yet, they couldn’t be bothered to come out on a Saturday morning to object to cuts in Federal funding for scientific research and the dissemination of misleading information about the efficacy of vaccines.. Over the last year, the elites have watched Trump and Kennedy appoint conspiracy theorists to key government positions that focus on health and science. Yet, today they sadly chose silence.

We are already suffering from the consequences stemming from the Trump Administration’s war on science. Measles has made a resurgence. Ongoing scientific studies and research has been setback, with some experimental studies destroyed when research funding was cut off midway the experimentation. The United States now stands alone in the world. It is the only Western country that officially denies climate change. None of this is surprising given Trump’s overall preference for lies over facts.

Despite the many scientific setbacks during the first year of the second Trump Administration, people simply couldn’t be bothered to speak out. Chicago’s scientific and medical community should be ashamed.

Kudos to the few who attended today’s rally.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]