1/8. This week I had a few different conversations with scholars who, in the face of the attacks on science and institutions of learning in the U.S., are wondering what to do. One suggestion I have is: keep doing your work. It matters in and of itself. Why do I say that? A few reasons. 2/8. Let me start with a recent example. The President’s “Border Czar” was recently furious because *checks notes* people have learned too much about their rights, which kept his team from exploiting them. Think about that. Knowing your rights is considered a threat. yahoo.com
www.yahoo.com
3/8. Now, people know those rights because organizers have been working with legal scholars and others to understand the contours of the law, and have been sharing that knowledge—empowering people to stand up for themselves and to protect those around them. It’s a beautiful thing, in my view. 4/8. It’s also precisely the kind of thing that institutions of learning are meant to do on larger scales—to create and share knowledge that improves the lives of people around them. They are responsible for *making* the kinds of citizens that make democracy flourish. nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com
5/8. This is why tyrants hate them and the people who work in them—why they are trying to destroy them. The knowledge that is created and shared, and the methods for creating and sharing that knowledge pose existential threats to tyrannical rule. 6/8. In science, and in institutions of learning like colleges and universities, there is a shared understanding that edicts should not go unquestioned—that we all have a duty to systematically investigate the world around us and to interrogate claims about it. We do not simply obey.
7/8. That understanding guides the work that we do and how we teach future generations. And it irritates the hell out of tyrants because they do not want anyone questioning them. 8/8. So, if you’re feeling down about these attacks, I understand—I feel that way too. But just remember that they’re not attacking because your work doesn’t matter; they’re attacking *precisely* because it does. So, get some rest, connect with your people, and keep doing it.