NPR is reporting that a “high-ranking
federal scientist focused on vaccine development says he was removed from his
post because of his ‘insistence’ that the government spend funds on ‘safe and
scientifically vetted solutions’ to address the coronavirus crisis and not on ‘drugs,
vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit.’” [1] Pending
litigation, there’s no way to assess the slant on that allegation. We do know
that the “president suggested last month on Twitter that taking a combination
of hydroxychloroquine — which is used to treat lupus and to prevent malaria —
and azithromycin could be ‘one of the biggest game changers in the history of
medicine,’” and that “a panel of experts convened by the” National Institutes
of Health “recommended against doctors using a combination of
hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for the treatment of COVID-19, because of
potential toxicities.”
Now your humble servant must make an
admission here: I don’t know what I’m talking about. I knew as early as high
school that I wasn’t going to be a doctor when I dissected a rat and found that
I had difficulty distinguishing the various internal organs. Concerned that I
would remove someone’s liver when he presented himself for an appendectomy, I
decided then and there that I would pursue another career path.
So, I really don’t know what the best thing
is to do during a pandemic. But there are people who do, and they’re called “doctors,”
and “biologists.” They are not called “politicians,” or “government
bureaucrats.” Unfortunately, under the present system, those who know what to
do have to convince those who don’t to take the proper actions; and we live in
a society where those who don’t know what to do often refuse to listen to those
who do. This tendency can have risible manifestations.
“A few years ago, a mischievous group of
pollsters asked American voters whether they would support bombing the country
of Agrabah.
“As you might expect, Republicans tended
to support military action, while Democrats were more reluctant.
“There’s only one problem: Agrabah doesn’t
exist. It’s from the animated Disney film ‘Aladdin.’ Only about half the people
surveyed figured this out, and liberals and conservatives gleefully pointed
fingers at each other.
“For experts in foreign affairs, however,
there was no way around the alarming reality that so many Americans had a
well-defined view on bombing a cartoon.” [2]
And they vote.
Long ago we decided that lawyers should be
the ones who occupy at least the higher judicial seats. And the time has come
to grant decision making power to other experts. Politicians are simply a too
craven and amoral lot to have as much power as they have.
Do I mean to increase the number of people
with governmental decision-making power who are not elected by popular vote?
Yes. Absolutely. Decisions should be made by those who know what they’re looking
at.
This can, in fact, be done democratically.
Make tuition for higher education free, and everyone will have an equal
opportunity to make themselves expert in the area of their choice. Money should
have nothing to do with it. And money purchasing power, and politicians, is
actually the system that we have now, which is far less democratic than what I’m
proposing.
Submitted for your consideration.
