From the White-PillBox: Part 56
Another logically inconsistent position of statism: science is the rational foundation of civilized society; we may not use the rationality of science to examine statism.
This installment of the White Pill series offers another example of the internal contradictions of statism. As explained in essay 36, one of statism’s fundamental weaknesses (and thus a major White Pill) is how so many of its positions lead to logical inconsistencies.
This essay examines one of the simplest of statism’s many contradictions. It pertains to the statist view of science.
On the surface, the statist seems to have a deep and foundational respect for science. He understands that human progress finds its best path by adhering to its principles. To deny this is irrational. It is via science that we achieve the best world possible for humanity.
But the statist fails to use science when it comes to the idea of government.
On blind faith he accepts the State in all respects: he believes in its moral legitimacy; he believes it is a force for good; he believes its laws are equivalent to gospel. If any of this is challenged, he cannot address it in a sober, reasoned, rational way. Science has no place; it is absent from the toolbox.
The State, in his mind, is a given, not to be questioned.
COVID - a glaring example
The statist’s inconsistent use of science revealed itself as particularly hypocritical in the years of the COVID hysteria. “Trust the science” became their new catch phrase. It used the rationality that we associate with science to sneak in the message that you should not trust your own judgement. And more: that if you do your own research - if you do question “scientific authority” - you should be treated as a social outcast.
The statist showed blind faith in not only the State, but its handmaidens: the medical establishment and the major media (two institutions that one might expect to be dedicated to truth and reason). All were quite unscientific in their approach to the virus.
When the State spoke, the statist listened like a dog to its master.
Evidence? Nah
Our hapless statist honors science as the hallmark of human achievement. Yet he sees no irony in his blindness to evidence: the centuries of destruction and human suffering left in the wake of statism. Suddenly, proof of the evil of the State can be utterly overlooked.
Conclusion
In the end, science is largely a showpiece for the statist. He will wear it proudly when it works for him. But it’s a showpiece he readily discards when the State itself is challenged.
He parrots the fact that science involves asking questions. But questioning the State? That’s “asking” too much.
