TRUMP VERSUS SCIENCE: Putting the Authority in Authoritarianism

“Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of the man who can fabricate it.” Hannah Arendt

“Two of the most monstrous regimes in human history came to power in the 20th century, and both were predicated on the violation and despoiling of truth, on the knowledge that cynicism and weariness and fear can make people susceptible to the lies and false promises of leaders bent on unconditional power….[Lately,] The strategy, essentially, was this: dig up a handful of so-called professionals to refute established science or argue that more research is needed; turn these false arguments into talking points and repeat them over and over; and assail the reputations of the genuine scientists on the other side.” Michiko Kakutani

“Faith as an imperative is a veto against science — in praxis, it means lies at any price.” Friedrich Nietzsche

“Authoritarian high-modernist states in the grip of a self-evident (and usually half-baked) social theory have done irreparable damage to human communities and individual livelihoods. The danger was compounded when leaders came to believe, as Mao said, that the people were a blank piece of paper on which the new regime could write.” James C. Scott

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” Albert Einstein