MAGA, Anti-Science, and the Parallels to Lysenkoism
Throughout history, the manipulation of science for ideological purposes has led to catastrophic consequences. One of the most infamous cases is Lysenkoism, a pseudoscientific doctrine enforced in the Soviet Union that rejected genetic science in favor of politically motivated Lamarckian theories. In modern America, a similar phenomenon has emerged through the MAGA movement's fusion of religious fundamentalism and anti-science rhetoric. Both movements share key characteristics: they prioritize belief over empirical evidence, suppress dissent, and lead to real-world consequences in public policy, education, and societal well-being.
Lysenkoism dismissed Mendelian genetics and evolutionary theory, imposing a false biological model that led to disastrous agricultural policies and the persecution of real scientists. In much the same way, MAGA rejects evolutionary science, climate change research, and public health recommendations based on religious dogma and political convenience. Figures within the movement promote creationism in schools, climate denial, and vaccine misinformation, much like how Lysenkoism forced Soviet institutions to abandon real genetics. Just as Lysenko insisted that plants could be “trained” to grow in unsuitable environments, MAGA ideologues push the belief that scientific facts can be willed away through faith and rhetoric.
A defining characteristic of Lysenkoism was its state-sponsored enforcement. Scientists who opposed Lysenko were branded as traitors, dismissed from their positions, imprisoned, or even executed. The Soviet government’s rigid ideological framework meant that scientific debate was replaced by authoritarian dictate, stifling any progress in biology and agriculture. The MAGA movement operates similarly, using government power and political influence to undermine science. Under Trump, scientific agencies were systematically gutted, with climate data scrubbed from government websites, public health officials sidelined, and COVID-19 misinformation promoted from the highest levels of government. Those who challenged these narratives—epidemiologists, climatologists, and evolutionary biologists—faced harassment, threats, and political retribution. Dissenting voices were labeled as part of a “deep state” conspiracy, just as Soviet scientists were accused of being counter-revolutionaries.
The practical consequences of both Lysenkoism and MAGA anti-science movements have been devastating. Lysenko’s agricultural policies, based on flawed biological principles, led to widespread crop failures and famine, contributing to the deaths of millions in the Soviet Union and China. MAGA’s rejection of science has had similarly dire consequences. COVID-19 misinformation, vaccine skepticism, and opposition to public health measures led to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths in the United States. Climate denial has delayed meaningful action on global warming, pushing the planet closer to irreversible damage. In both cases, ideological commitment to pseudoscience results in direct harm to societies and individuals.
Another shared feature of Lysenkoism and MAGA anti-science is their hostility toward intellectual dissent. In the Soviet Union, dissenting scientists were persecuted, and alternative scientific perspectives were labeled as capitalist, bourgeois, or counter-revolutionary. Similarly, MAGA attacks scientists, educators, and journalists who contradict its ideological worldview. Climate scientists are dismissed as “hoaxers,” public health officials are accused of tyranny, and educators who teach evolution are targeted by religious extremists. Science is framed not as a neutral pursuit of knowledge but as an enemy of faith, freedom, and conservative values.
Moreover, science education itself is under attack. Just as Soviet students were force-fed Lysenkoist dogma and denied access to real genetics, students in MAGA-controlled states are often taught pseudoscientific theories in place of real biology and environmental science. Book bans, restrictions on discussions of climate change, and the promotion of religious fundamentalism in schools all ensure that future generations grow up scientifically illiterate—making them more susceptible to manipulation.
The lesson is clear: whenever ideology dictates scientific discourse, progress halts, and human suffering follows. If societies wish to avoid repeating the failures of the past, they must resist the suppression of science in the name of belief, whether political or religious. Science must remain free from ideological interference, or else civilization itself will pay the price.
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