Bullsh*t that happens when you criticize scientists.
A thread.

There is no system of oppression in the world today that functions w/out the complicity of scientists. Scientific institutions are a crucial part of capitalism, colonialism, patriarchy, etc.
When an oppression...
...is systematic, generalized criticism is justified, even though generalization always leaves things out.
Yet criticisms of oppressive tendencies of scientists are always met with the same formula:
1) Most scientists are good people who are actually working to solve x problem
...2) Actually, scientists are ALREADY aware of this problem, they're way ahead of you (without ever acknowledging the struggles of common people who forced them to admit their errors or the marginalized who are the true creators of knowledge).
So I guess we just dreamed up
...the scientists who made oil drilling possible, and mental hospitals (prisons), and Ritalin, and cruise missiles, and mountain top removal, and sweatshops. I guess nuclear weapons, tear gas, & Round Up were designed by people just pretending to be scientists?
Yes, we get how
peer review works, we know how a corpus of knowledge changes over time, we understand there are tens of millions of scientists of all different stripes. We are criticizing tendencies, institutions, and results. Get over yourselves.
We also notice, in your zeal to dissimulate...
you never acknowledge that you have way more social privilege and economic stability than the rest of us.
Truly revolutionary people who work in an oppressive institution wholeheartedly support criticisms of the institution and they recognize that over-generalized anger is...
justified. They don't get defensive and try to reaffirm their authority. That is what reactionaries do.
So until you bring me the corpses of the a**hole who locked me in a mental hospital, the one who designed Deep Water Horizon, the ones who certified the Coastal Gaslink
pipeline, the ones making better lithium car batteries, the ones who carry out vivisection, who designed the LRAD, the F35, drones, tear gas, facial recognition, crowd control methodology, gender assignment surgery for intersex infants, VSL calculations, terminator seeds...
or if asking for their corpses is too much, at least a damn petition to have them disbarred, then STFU with this "Not All Scientists" bullcrap.
It's not about you or your reputation, it's about all the harm being caused by this ongoing war against the planet and its inhabitants.
If you live in the comfort zone, you're on the wrong side. 

Finally, love and respect to all the researchers and academics using their powers for liberation, provided they seek responsible ways to share their privileges.
You can follow @PeterGelderloos.
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