Vice-President Harris’s signature rallying cry can mean many things to many people. To me, it means we aren’t going back to a country that embraces racism, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia that has harmed so many for so long. It means we aren’t going back to accepting that only the wealthy are entitled to freedom and the benefits of opportunity. And it means we aren’t going back to the chaos of the Trump Administration. To a society where the statements of one man, regardless of their veracity, hold sway over evidence, analysis and critical thinking. Over facts themselves.
VP Harris’s call that we aren’t going back was brought into even greater importance by last week’s long list of wild fabrications from Mr. Trump and his running mate Mr. Vance. And just yesterday by Robert Kennedy Jr. who, according to Mr. Trump will be able to “go wild” on our public health and food systems. Apparently, that starts with banning some or many vaccines. And prohibiting fluoride in water systems.
That’s because Mr. Kennedy and now Mr. Trump will substitute their judgement for all of the science, evidence and history on the critical role vaccines have played in preventing or reducing the impacts of disease, including COVID-19. And the major progress made on dental health by the widespread use of low levels of fluoride in water. Yes, there is an indicative, but inconclusive, study that shows that higher levels of fluoride than included in public water supplies may have impacts on child development.
There are two problems with attributing Mr. Trump’s position to some “new” evidence. First, science doesn’t work that way. We should and must work on the weight of evidence, not each new study. And the weight of evidence amassed over decades on the public health benefits of vaccines and fluoride is overwhelmingly in favor of their widespread efficacy. And secondly, Mr. Kennedy’s and now Mr. Trump’s position isn’t because of new evidence. Rather, they are substituting their twisted political views to take provocative positions without any scientific rationale. And speaking of evidence, both men have a long history of doing just that.
I’m with VP Harris. We can’t go back to policies that totally ignore science. We can’t go back to dominant and iconoclastic political figures speaking untrue with no pushback or consequences. And we can’t go back to a US society that is based on harm for the many without responsibility for those who cause that harm.
WE AREN’T GOING BACK!
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