Climate change, vaccines, COVID-19, genetics, and gender 一 what is common between these things? All of them have been denied, manipulated, and/or twisted in one way or another for the benefit of governments and corporations at the expense of individuals.
Scientific denialism for political purposes is not new, nor an invention of the modern technologically advanced era. Throughout history, government and church authorities have challenged scientific findings and innovations that question traditional worldviews.
One of the famous examples of scientific persecution from history is the Galileo Affair. In 1610, Galileo Galilei used his telescope to prove the Copernican heliocentric model, that the sun is in the centre of our solar system. The Catholic Church considered this knowledge religiously heretical and Galileo was forced to frame it as a possible theory, alongside the geocentric model, where the Earth is the system’s centre instead. The Church feared that the scientific evidence that the Earth and other planets revolve around the sun would undermine its reputation and people’s trust.
Nazi Germany used eugenics to justify the extermination of Jewish, queer, and disabled people. Eugenics did not originate in 1930s Germany however, but was popularized by American biologist Charles Davenport whose followers aimed “to maintain physically, racially, and hereditary “healthy” individuals,” according to Holocaust Encyclopedia. The idea was later adopted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who claimed the Aryan race to be the supreme race while other populations were considered racially foreign and less valuable. This lead to legal genocide of disabled people who were viewed as hereditarily ill: sterilization, segregation, “complete emigration,” and later extermination, known as the “Final Solution” of Jewish, Romani, gay, transgender, mentally ill, and disabled people.
There are many cases of Western politicians denying or ignoring the problem of global warming to proceed with the oil and gas industry. When met with scientific evidence about climate change being real, they reply with the phrase ‘I’m not a scientist,’ shrugging off the responsibility of the fossil fuel industry and not making any effort to mitigate negative climate-related effects. According to the United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction, 232 thousand Canadians were forced to leave their home due to wildfires in 2023. While people are denying the legitimacy of global warming, its consequences are varied and often impact marginalized communities. Wildfires, that have become more frequent in recent years, are disproportionately affecting Black, brown, and Indigenous communities in the U.S. and Canada. Denial of global warming and inaction towards its effects directly impacts humanity because of the alternative energy sources costs exacerbated by racism and ableism.
Similarly, misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic has been spread by politicians, TV channels, and social media. According to the article “Politicization and COVID-19 vaccine resistance in the U.S.,” written by Risa Palm and Toby Bolsen of Georgia State University, COVID-19 has been referred to as “normal flu,” “political weapon,” and “flu panic.” Masking has been continuously humiliated by U.S. President Donald Trump in an attempt to make the effects of the viral infection less scary. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has been called “a conspiracy by the Chinese government to harm the US economy, or a plot to spread panic and hurt President Trump’s chances for re-election.” Facing blame on being responsible for the pandemic, many Asian people have been affected by increased xenophobia.
Looking at modern day U.S. and ultra-conservative “Project 2025” anyone who has picked up a book on the Holocaust might notice familiar patterns. President Trump’s explicit attack on transgender people and immigrants stems in part from scientific denialism and hate. “On his first day back, [he] has issued an executive order that would only recognize a person’s sex assigned at birth” and gender is defined at conception, reports ABC News. Ironically, Trump’s attempt to split gender into a neat binary assigned everyone female at birth as all fetuses are “phenotypically female” during early stages of development, comments Arwa Mahdawi, columnist for The Guardian. This manipulation of binary biological myths targets transgender people whose rights are being actively denied in the U.S., as well as reproductive rights allowing criminalization of abortions.
With the widespread use of social media, it is easier than ever to be subjected to misinformation. So critically looking at facts and practicing compassion to one another is extremely important, especially on social media. Always be aware of potential biases and propaganda when interacting with news: check credibility of the source and whether the fact is confirmed by multiple reliable sources. Remember that fascism can only work if we forget about each other and turn away from our communities.
