A lot of my fellow nerds have fallen into this trap. They thought because their area of interest is abstract, esoteric, or otherwise far removed from the typical political discourse that it meant it was isolated — that it was "apolitical" and free from political bias. Things like podcasts that discussed science or technology were considered apolitical.

Now we know that's obviously not true. The current political administration wouldn't be working so hard to undermine these things if it was.

There is a philosophical worldview — a political message — that's intrinsically tied to things like science and technology. By participating in such endeavors, you are implicitly propagating that worldview. You wouldn't be participating if you didn't agree on some level with it.

Simply existing as a scientist or engineer is a political threat to certain groups. You are personally representing an idea that challenges their belief system. A blatant counterpoint, mocking them.

This is exactly the same phenomenon that exists with LGBTQ+ people, especially trans people. Our existence is an afront to the patriarchy. We don't even need to *do* anything other than be visible to draw ire from specific political factions, because our very existence challenges the foundations of their beliefs.

It's not surprising to me that the Right is attacking both trans people and the institution of science at the same time.

Stop pretending science and technology are apolitical. They aren't.

- Knowledge is power.

- Open knowledge is power for all, *equally*.

- Technology grants power to *only* the people that are allowed to wield it, and access to many technologies are not evenly distributed — by design or application.

These are political statements that cannot be separated from these domains. Embrace them, don't ignore them.

"#Technology grants power to *only* the people that are allowed to wield it, and access to many technologies are not evenly distributed — by design or application."... is referred to as #Technocracy. #Technocrats. Herbert Marcuse wrote a whole book about it @malcircuit https://www.marcuse.org/herbert/pubs/64onedim/odmcontents.html He's hated universally by his fellow marxists btw for writing a book debunking the myth that Russia's government was Marxist: "Soviet Marxism: A Critical Analysis".