Two for the price of one

Kevin spent the weekend breaking down the latest right-wing hobby horse. It's an attempt, it seems, to bring both the word "progressive" and the idea of basing policy on empirical reality into disrepute:

A few old-time progressives touted eugenics as a "scientific" approach to improving human nature back in the early 20th century, and modern-day progressives tout "science" as evidence that global warming is real in the early 21st century. Our reliance on science, then, basically means that we're pining away for the days of legalized racism.

Fortunately, I'm fairly confident that precisely nobody will be swayed by such an absurd argument. It appears, as Kevin points out, that this argument will replace the old "strategy" of contending that the right and the left are equally guilty of ignoring science when its findings cut against ideology. Honestly, though, why the switch? The old argument had the benefit of faint plausibility, even if it can probably be shown (yes, empirically!) that liberalism has much deeper roots in, well, empiricism than does conservatism. And, for that matter, the old argument rather conveniently ignored the differences between liberals and conservatives in the instances when either side has sought to  marginalize the role of science in policy-making. Obviously there's a large element of constituent pandering any time this happens. But surely it's clear to everybody that the reasons and methods by which liberals have sought to avoid mixing scientific arguments about gene-linked IQ with policy discussions about education and welfare are extremely different and less objectionable than the reasons and methods by which conservatives have sought to avoid mixing scientific arguments about climate change with policy arguments about...climate change.

(Or scientific arguments about stem-cell research with policy discussions about stem-cell research, etc., etc.)

Comments

[Travis]

"A few old-time progressives touted eugenics as a "scientific" approach to improving human nature back in the early 20th century, and modern-day progressives tout "science" as evidence that global warming is real in the early 21st century. Our reliance on science, then, basically means that we're pining away for the days of legalized racism."

Idiotic. But the religious right still may want to burn witches.