Science and Scientists in the Era of Trump 2.0: Undermined but not Resigned

Science and scientists are under siege, as the first few weeks of the Trump Administration are proving. We urgently need an agenda to protect reason and knowledge

Then they came looking for the scientists,

And I didn’t say anything.

(inspired by the poetic prose of "First they came...", by Martin Niemöller, 1946)

Science and scientists are under siege. If anyone had doubts, the first few weeks of the Trump administration are proving what national-populist authoritarianism can do: stifle research projects, lay off researchers, technicians and managers, drastically cut economic support for scientists and their institutions, censor certain fields of knowledge, prevent the dissemination of certain information and journalistic data, and question the role of renowned research and education centres, including in the fields of biomedicine and public health.

This is an all-out attack on the ecosystem of knowledge, science, innovation and education, one of the pillars of democracy and economic and social development around the world. Trump's "men in black", with arguments about the alleged inefficiency of these institutions and their professionals, but with approaches that convey ideological sectarianism in the fight against climate change, vaccination, gender diversity or reproductive rights, and with procedures of dubious legality, have taken the agora of science by storm, in a demolition campaign without precedent in recent times. And I say recent, because we cannot forget the imposition of ideological restrictions on scientific and technological activity in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

What can we scientists do?

Faced with this situation, which threatens decades of knowledge and generations of researchers not only in the United States, but also in Europe and the rest of the world, we must ask ourselves what the global scientific community, to which more than 9 million of us belong, can do (and I stress do, not just say), not counting the respective technical and management teams. Here is a 7-point proposal for an urgent and proactive agenda so that together, we can stem this tide of hatred and attempts to undermine intelligence

1. We must overcome the current state of stupefaction, and avoid holding our noses while looking elsewhere, in the vain hope that this will pass and that sooner or later we will return to normality. Let us not be fooled: populism and scientific denial are here to stay. However, science cannot hide behind "the search for the truth", forgetting who and what it serves. We must avoid falling into a silence that, disguised as expectant caution, ends up being a necessary collaborator in plans that seek to discredit reason, scientific knowledge and those of us working to develop and apply it for the common good.
2. Whether we like it or not, the battle for narratives is a sign of the times and a powerful condition for public debate. We need an attractive argument, based on objective arguments but also mobilising emotions, to defend the trust and commitment of science and scientists to the search for truth and the progress of humanity, everywhere and for everyone, with ethics and integrity, putting enthusiasm and hope at the service of "the common man".
3. It is necessary to reach out - by land, sea and air - to communities and civil society, especially to the younger generations and in those areas where distrust of "the elites" prevails, where sceptical, fearful, undecided and resentful groups are gathered, trying to understand the determinants of their attitudes, but also underlining the contributions of science and technology to their daily lives: from the mobile phone, the washing machine or the car that make their lives easier, to the scalpel and the medicine that save their children's lives, to the computer, the Internet and the social networks that keep us Connected through satellites and space technology.
4. All these efforts cannot be the simple sum of individual and scattered wills and actions, but must be based on the close and coherent involvement of scientific institutions, knowledge networks, research and innovation funders, including philanthropy and the private sector, and cultural institutions. They all have a responsibility to fulfil their respective missions and to protect reason in the face of barbarism.
5. This united and active front must also serve to promote all the necessary legal procedures to oppose decisions that violate democracy, the rule of law, pluralism and respect for the independence of science and its institutions, the media and the judiciary.
6. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain an objective and constructive dialogue with all those who prefer to think rather than to hate, in order to discuss the current situation in good faith, from a critical point of view, without rejecting prejudices, but avoiding the manipulation of lies, falsehoods or simple
7. Finally, we must practise the sense of humour used by Chaplin in "The Great Dictator" and Woody Allen in "Bananas" to disarm arrogant and autocratic narcissism. In the emerging era of the "Antrumpocene" it is necessary, as Bertold Brecht said, to defy the great political criminals under the weight of ridicule, to oppose humour to stupidity.

The situation is serious and we may already be too late. But we are not resigned: we will find the courage, determination and perseverance to respond positively to the growing aggression against science and scientists, which is nothing more than the will of the few to sow distrust and hatred among the many in order to dismantle democracy and further increase their power and wealth.