New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 38
One of the most notorious names almost nobody in the West remembers is Trofim Lysenko. His horrific ideas about agriculture and biology, derived mostly from crackpot Marxist Socialist and Soviet Theory, led to the starvation and deaths of tens of millions of people in the Soviet Union and Communist China. Opposing or challenging his ideas was a one-way ticket to cancellation, reeducation, or destruction. Lysenkoism, therefore, is the enforced application of an ideological lens that distorts science, and thanks to Woke Marxism and the “Sustainability” agenda, we’re facing our own looming (and unfolding) Lysenkoist catastrophe right now throughout Western nations. Host James Lindsay breaks it down for you in this episode of New Discourses Bullets. Join him to understand an important facet of what’s happening around you and the history behind it. It’s not the first time in human history we’ve made this technocratic, scientistic mistake.
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6 comments
Dear James, I very much respect your work, but I am honestly worried that you have stared into the Abyss for too long, and are too willing to round up everything to “it’s all just a woke conspiracy”.
Climate change has been discussed in science since the late 1960s, and not only do the models work really well, the effects are plainly visible to anyone willing to use their eyes. You are a mathematician. What would be the odds that the past year is among the 10 hottest in the last 100 years, if there were no systematic change? … Now, guess how many of the past 20 years were among the 10 hottest of the preceding 100 years? That’s right, all of them. What evidence would you need to accept that climate change is happening, and to accept that it’s largely due to human actions? If there is no amount of evidence that would convince you, you have become a fundamentalist. If you decide on an amount, do yourself the favor and check if it exists.
Sustainability is a tricky topic, with a massive motte-and-bailey component. I don’t doubt that there are activists who are trying to tack all kinds of ideological anti-capitalist BS onto the topic, and I think that the “climate justice” rhetoric is a massive own-goal, but at the core of sustainability is a mathematical tautology: if something can’t go on forever, it will stop, one way or another. If there is a limited amount of fossil fuels (which is obvious), and we keep consuming it, the supply will get used up. If populations keep growing, and feeding a person requires a minimum amount of fertile soil, and the total amount of fertile soil is limited, we will run out of soil. If we use up more fresh water than we get from rainfall, reservoirs will shrink, and groundwater levels will fall – ask the people in Nevada and Southern California. And so on and so forth. All of these problems are already happening; the questions are how and when to tackle them, and common sense suggests to deal with them while there are is still some slack in the system and some time left for measures to become effective. BTW, under many circumstances, renewable energies have become the cheapest way to generate electricity by a significant margin, so switching to renewables would be the good capitalist thing to do.
Given that the earth is billions of years old looking at what it’s done over the last 100 years is of zero statistical significance.
I have heard of Lysenko but never studied his ideas.
He sounds like the very model of a modern government propagandist.
We should be cautious in supporting similar personalities in the West.
Its really seeping into everything….Daily. Major bank add and Auto Billboard I just saw included equity and diversity in advertising. What you say about the gender issues and medical directions will not be even questioned by any leading Democratic political figures. Gender Equity Diversity is an empty idiom being pushed like nothing every seen before. Just feels even as the movement is being questioned and ridiculed by comedians it is gaining more steam. Mass Hysteria.
Thanks so much. Please keep up the great work. I don’t know whether I learned about Lysenkoism from you or another source, but this clear parallel to everything we are experiencing is very helpful. I think we are also experiencing “electoral” Lysenkoism.
100% correct! Superb! Thank you