Legally Blonde
NICK TITAN ON TRUMP’S WAR ON KNOWLEDGE
(DUTCH VERSION AVAILABLE ON : ‘NICK TITAN OVER TRUMPS OORLOG TEGEN KENNIS’)
Hello, dear memberoos of this community! Today, we’re looking into Edward Cahun’s question.
‘Dear Nick,’ Edward writes. ‘This year, I hope to graduate from Princeton. Next goal: a PhD. Should I obtain that in the States? Or should I move to Europe?’
Welcome at Nick Titan’s CCA, the Communication Consulting Agency that has your back when you are facing trouble. My name is Nick Titan. I am your host today.
Are you new to my channel? Subscribe now to my blog. You might just win a copy of “The Truest History of the World” by Columbia’s Honorary Student and most notorious DJ, the one and only D.J. Trump (note the erratum on p. 13: “Europe” should read as “East-America”).
But let’s get back to our case. I do get your dilemma, Edward. It’s looking pretty bad.
In her first round, wrestling diva Linda MacMahon outed her agressive side as “Minister of Education without any credible references” by cancelling hunderds of millions US dollars of support for education – thus forcing smart students without means to register as Uber-drivers and convicting public universities to file for bancruptcy. After the break, MacMahon took her department in a chokehold, until it finally surrendered and fired about half its staff. Next, enters Trump to rise the stakes a little further. Columbia University becomes his brandnew punching bag for condoling “terrorist” Khalil, a student with Palestinian roots who stood up to the nation’s rather questionable support for Netanyahu’s genocide (at the expense of Khalil’s residence permit, which got – illegally – revoked). Columbia could kiss millions of funding goodbye, until it swore to silence campus criticism so its poor Israelian students finally could feel safe again (a privilege the average Palestinian – be it in Gaza or surroundings – can only dream about). Columbia was fast to comply. Cash matters more than fluffy principles – particulary when a critical attitude equals political suicide. That pretty much set the tone. Not only within the Ivy League but also way beyond.
But still, Linda won’t rest before the entire Department of Education has been floored and eradicated. From now on, it’s up to individual States to manage Education. Once more, “Make America Great Again” boils down to “turning back the clock”. Let’s return to the Middle-Ages! With education as a privilege for the handful wealthy one percent and the church (or similar twisted institutions) forcing academics to replace science by silly dogmas or overwrite the truth with lies and plain delusions – to prove their crazy vision on what reality should be. For those who are still wondering: John Doe does think that Darwin is a fraud and Trump speaks the whole truth. In the Mid-West, schools teaching “that the world ain’t flat” are not just called ‘progressive’ but considered ‘communist’. Before Trump reaches his midterms, all schoolkids are to be convinced Zelensky is a bad dictator who waged war on Trump’s Russian friends, Greenland and Canada have always been part of the States (and voluntarily joined their homeland because Trump was so kind to let them after stealing the elections with the aid of Musk and X), Europe has been America’s nemesis from the start and the EU is just a scam aimed at destroying US wellfare, as are NATO, WHO and the International Criminal Court. All schools that don’t support those messages will have to close their doors.
As though that isn’t bad enough yet, Trump’s wrestling championette launched an attack on science itself. Funding for scientific, medical and fundamental research is frozen (or cancelled) all together. Even an institute as Johns Hopkins is now no longer safe. Neither are those Colleges that still swear by diversity programs or still try to be woke. They had all better brace themselves for serious financial sanctions, insults and humiliations by bothTrump-minded staff and press (who’re leading public conversation now Trump-critical journalists are shutting up, for fear of cuts in funding). What once was called “academic freedom”, is now considered “national treason”. Foreign professors (especially if they’re French) who struggle with Trumps vision and dare to voice their doubts, are sent back at the borders –like any average refugee, transgender or common ‘criminal’.
The entire US academic community stands paralyzed at the sidelines. No dean or rector has the guts to stand up and speak up. And yet, the braindrain we had been expecting, has failed to take effect. Much to the regret of Belgian Academics from both VUB and UGent, who urged their US counterparts to join our research teams . To have a brain does not imply its owner takes smart actions.Without the glue of courage, intelligence and consequence seem to repell each other. Being both brave and smart, is just a glitch of fate.
“La Grande Peur” (the “Big Fear”) that had the French Revolution’s foes shivering for mere terror, has struck hard in the States. Luc Sels, rector of the Catholic University of Louvain (KU Leuven), wondered at his transatlantic colleagues’ reluctance to openly adress their concerns for fear of harsh reprisals. Even among themselves, they continue to refrain from comments on the topic. The Lambs are Silent, Dr. Lecter. No single word of discontent, no joint position, common statements, let alone the beginnings of coordinated actions or the slightest sign of resistance. That kind of intellectual cowardness is the dictator’s wettest dream. Mute victims prove just one sorry point: intimidation works.
Ironically, that makes the very same academic victims complicit of the spiral of agression that threatens to destroy them. Because they do not raise their voice, the vicious circle wins. At least in the short term, it seems. The bullies that lead muted slaves do not take much to opennes and critical minds – the breeding grounds for innovation. As a result, they tend to lose in the long run. Until that time, the autocrats and their inner circles continue to enrich themselves at the expense of the plebeians who learn to listen and shut up, forget to think and suffer.
You’re facing a tough choice here, Edward. Are you a friend of the regime? Are you one of the happy few with money and the ‘right’ (as opposed to ‘left’) connections? Do you endorse the ranks of those who tag along with the mythomaniac regime? If that holds true, by all means do remain in your beloved USA. You’ll have nothing to worry about, as long as your research confirms whatever politics may request – even if that means bending your results to fit the point you will be asked to prove.
But if you want to have an impact, on – say – climate change for instance, or fundamental research on new technologies, materials, virusses and organisms, I urge you to start packing. Although it’s hard to bridge the gap between a dream and doing the right thing to get there (and you’ll be facing border checks, passport controls and fear for the unknown).
It’s up to you now, my dear Edward. Are you a fan of ‘Legally Blonde’? In that case, just you remain politically correct. Stay put in the United States for a carreer marked by academic nullity at most. If you prefer ‘Where Eagles Dare’ however, it’s high time to unfold your wings and set course for the first best European, Canadian, Australian or Japanese University to research what your heart desires. Should you by any chance decide to touch down at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, you’re free to stay with me. I promise you we can discuss whatever topic takes your fancy without the risk of repercussions. Now that will teach MacMahon!
As for you, dear memberoos, join me in welcoming those poor American researchers who have the guts to fly. If you prepare your spring cleaning , please don’t forget to sweep your cellars and your attics. Less than a century ago, our grandparents hid Jewish fugitives from nazis and their likes. Who knows whom we’ll be hiding next. Or who’ll be hiding us.
This is Nick Titan signing off. Keep floating folks! Sea you soon.
Kind regards
Nick Titan
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