The marketers and public relations consultants behind the “follow the science” campaign of the Covid-era left were definitely the B-team, and it seems like despite the failure, they still have their jobs. As a New York Times columnist wrote of the catchphrase:
When Donald Trump was president and making false statements to downplay Covid, ‘follow the science’ began to gain popularity. Now, it also serves as a response to the many incorrect statements that vaccine opponents make. President Biden likes to promise that he will follow the science, to signal his difference from Trump and deference to the C.D.C.
The phrase does have its uses. It’s a rejection of myth….
Well, that didn’t age well, because it appears as though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are poised to exchange the pseudoscience of Big Pharma with… let’s all welcome “Indigenous Knowledge” to the asylum that is the federal bureaucracy. (And for those wondering, no, this is neither farce nor satire.)
Here are the details, from a report out at The Washington Free Beacon today:
The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could soon employ ‘Indigenous Knowledge’ in their research, a document obtained by the Washington Free Beacon shows.
Now, if you didn’t know any better, you might be tempted to believe that the directive to consider “Indigenous Knowledge” really meant a search for natural therapies and remedies—I’ve been able to avoid giving my children any sort of antibiotic because topical diluted peppermint oil has proven to be infinitely better at addressing internal infections without wiping out their gut biomes—and although those must certainly be aspects, the true motives appear to be more sinister. From a Joe Biden White House press release on the matter:
Today, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) jointly released new government-wide guidance and an accompanying implementation memorandum for Federal Agencies on recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge in Federal research, policy, and decision making.
…
Indigenous Knowledge is a body of observations, oral and written knowledge, innovations, practices, and beliefs developed by Tribes and Indigenous Peoples through interaction and experience with the environment. The Biden-Harris Administration has formally recognized Indigenous Knowledge as one of the many important bodies of knowledge that contributes to the scientific, technical, social, and economic advancements of the United States and our collective understanding of the natural world.
‘As the original stewards of the natural environment, Tribes and Indigenous communities have expertise critical to finding solutions to the climate crisis and protecting our nation’s ecosystems,’ said CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory. ‘The guidance released today will help ensure that their voices are included across the Federal Government for the collective benefit of our communities and the planet.’
Ahhh and there it is—it’s a policy to address a purported “climate crisis.” And, we can rationally infer that the Bidenites don’t want actual solutions, which these tribes people might legitimately have, otherwise they wouldn’t be supporting all the endless policies that have proven to decimate the environment. So what kind of “climate” innovations or wisdom are they looking for? Rain dances? Disembowelment atop Tenochtitlán to change the weather? After all, the memo “asks that federal officials speak with ‘spiritual leaders’” (not scientists) for policy ideas.
Well, here’s a bit of history regarding “spiritual indigenous knowledge” and the climate:
According to Aztec cosmology, the sun god Huitzilopochtli was waging a constant war against darkness, and if the darkness won, the world would end. The keep the sun moving across the sky and preserve their very lives, the Aztecs had to feed Huitzilopochtli with human hearts and blood.
If not this... then what?
Image: Public domain.