The Politics of Science

How do we deal with coronavirus? I look at the Great Barrington Declaration - a group of scientists against lockdowns - and the history of how science is always political. The Declaration has been signed by over 20,000 medical practitioners and scientists, including Professor Sunetra Gupta from Oxford. There are some problems, though. First, anyone can sign the form – a look through the signatures reveals signatures from Johnny Bananas and the notorious serial killer, Dr. Harold Shipman. But the so-called Great Barrington Declaration event was also hosted by a libertarian think-tank funded by multi-billionaires including the Koch Brothers. But this doesn’t immediately delegitimize their position. Another letter signed by Professor Gupta said: ‘Any objective should be framed more broadly than COVID itself. To place all weight on reducing deaths from COVID fails to consider the complex trade-offs that occur: (i) with in any healthcare system; and (ii) between healthcare, society and the economy.’ How do we make sense of this? I take a tour through history from the Scientific Revolution and Isaac Newton through to today s COVID-19 lockdown science to find out. Then & Now is FAN-FUNDED! Support me on Patreon and pledge as little as $1 per video: http://patreon.com/user?u=3517018 Or send me a one-off tip of any amount and help me make more videos: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=JJ76W4CZ2A8J2 Buy on Amazon through this link to support the channel: https://amzn.to/2ykJe6L Follow me on: Facebook: http://fb.me/thethenandnow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thethenandnow/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lewlewwaller Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/then-now-philosophy-history-politics/id1499254204 https://open.spotify.com/show/1Khac2ih0UYUtuIJEWL47z Sources: https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/politics-explained/boris-johnson-coronavirus-lockdown-chris-whitty-patrick-vallance-follow-science-b553465.html https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3702 https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/22/scientists-disagree-over-targeted-versus-nationwide-measures-to-tackle-covid https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/22/scientists-disagree-over-targeted-versus-nationwide-measures-to-tackle-covid https://www.wired.co.uk/article/great-barrington-declaration-herd-immunity-scientific-divide https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/11/the-rebel-scientists-cause-would-be-more-persuasive-if-it-werent-so-half-baked https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/10/continual-local-lockdowns-answer-covid-control Pietro Omodeo, Political Epistemology: The Problem of Ideology in Science Studies, Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2019 Peter Weingart, Scientific expertise and political accountability: paradoxes of science in politics Anthony King, Science, Politics, and Policymaking Ulrike Felt, The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies