Our latest blame game involves unaccompanied minors crossing our southern border. There’s been a surge in the past months, and it’s expected to continue through the summer (coincident with the deadly desert heat). About 75% are from Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras), and “many” (no numbers yet) have family members already residing in the US. The majority of these recently apprehended children were “guided” across the US border by traffickers (“coyotes”) for large fees. As usual, the girls and young women were raped along the way. The stories of these courageous children’s journeys are those of refugees. They left home to escape horrendous situations in their violence-ridden and corrupt countries.  

In response to this crisis, pundits and politicians have cherry-picked budgetary concerns the way they do science. Faced with this new border issue, there’s an outcry about the costs of caring for the many apprehended child refugees. However, in recent years the US has spent billions to aid Syrian refugees, and additional billions to support refugee camps in Africa and Asia. We’ve heard little criticism and certainly no outrage about expenditures to help those fleeing violence and famine on other continents.

While it is tempting to blame the children and their families for this latest immigration “situation,” it’s also extremely unfair. Regardless of the hopes and perceived promises of a better life in the US, no one would stridently elect for their child to travel alone from Central America to the US border. Only absolute desperation would drive such an extreme decision. Let’s be reasonable in viewing this.

This is indeed quite the mess, but perhaps an enlightening one. As the Christian Science Monitor suggested, I insist that this crisis requires serious reflection on our foreign policy priorities, and some long due attention to our neighbors. Why don’t we invest in the kids next door (Mexico) and those down the street (Central America) if we want our neighborhood to be safe and secure? Take a look at where the US invests in foreign assistance and note how little of it goes to our walking-distance community.

We have a deplorable history with Latin America overall, and little long-term positive impact to show for it. In general, our interventions have increased poverty (particularly for indigenous peoples) and  corruption, while increasing violence and instability. To help Mexico, we maintain a consumer base for illicit drugs and provide weapons for the cartels to terrorize Mexican communities. We deliver huge amounts of funding to combat the drug trafficking we support, and that subsequently lines the pockets of the corrupt. And let’s not forget the blessings of NAFTA, which continue to decrease opportunities for the working poor in Mexico and beyond. As for Central America, we apparently have little interest in those nations’ current struggles, despite civil wars and unstable governments. Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world. The indigenous majority in Guatemala is locked into chronic poverty as the racist elite commands increasing political and economic power. El Salvador suffers similar issues, plus criminal gangs that operate like the military.

Just one more point for reflection: most of the children crossing the border are of Mayan or other indigenous decent. Most of us are not. We are relative newcomers. Just something to keep in mind when proselytizing about who has the right to be where in the Western Hemisphere.

Let’s learn to truly play nice with our neighbors, and lead efforts to make the Americas (that's plural) a place of peace and prosperity. Sufficient resources, knowledge, and creativity abound. All we need now is political will.

It's a difficult time to be a scientist. We are increasingly underfunded and undervalued, and that's been hard to survive. Even worse, we are discredited and even demonized by politicians, the media, and a frighteningly misinformed and confused public. Science denial is truly at epidemic proportions, and the subsequent levels of ignorance are driving us further into this era of  irreversible self-destruction.

Today's politics can be extremely depressing, and lead to unhealthy levels of rage. I offer here my favorite antidotes from the past several weeks. Such brilliant satire is essential to my sanity.

On May 11, John Oliver did a delightful piece on HBO's Last Week Tonight. The video has gone viral, and should be required viewing for all Americans. The segment offered "A Statistically Representative Climate Change Debate" as a clever response to the disproportionate and misleading air time given to the "sides" of scientific information.

"You don't need people’s opinion on a fact," Oliver reminds us. "You might as well have a poll asking: ‘Which number is bigger, 15 or 5?’ or ‘Do owls exist?’ or ‘Are there hats?'"

In case you missed it, WATCH IT NOW:
Last Week Tonight (Climate Change Debate)


Of course, Jon Stewart's The Daily Show is the mother (father?) of such intelligent satire, and where John Oliver apprenticed. They've also kept hammering on the anti-science crisis, particularly as embarrassing inaccuracies flow from the mouths of lawmakers and pundits on the extreme right. But recently, they gave the anti-science left some well-earned ridicule.  On June 2, in response to the recent measles outbreaks in the US, The Daily Show's Samantha Bee investigated the epidemic of vaccine-science denial. It's a great one to watch.

We are introduced to blogger Sarah Pope, author of the Healthy Home Economist (and vaccine effectiveness denier). She is not a scientist or a clinician. Her website informs us that she does hold a degree "from the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution." She explains to Samantha Bee, "There is no herd immunity.....that's a myth." Pope also rebukes the concept of scientific consensus. Bee confidently diagnoses Pope with "stage 4 science denial" and defines her as the index case of the anti-vaccine outbreak in the US.

Dr. Paul Offit, renowned vaccine expert and science myth debunker, suggests that such denial will not be curbed until we have some large and dramatic vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks in the US.

Samantha Bee concludes, "Once Florida's under water and we all have polio, it'll be better."

HAVE A LOOK:
The Daily Show (Outbreak of Liberal Idiocy)

(Yes, it's particularly entertaining to me, as a scientist who's been focused on infectious diseases. I cherish any humor I can have so close to "home.")

Our sorely-missed friend, Bruce Babbitt, offered an informative and directive
Guest Commentary in the recent Tucson Weekly. An influential Secretary of the
Interior, and our former Arizona governor, Babbitt began by reminding us of our
public-land heritage.  He stressed the important work of BLM staffers, particularly in managing the antics of racist Nevada rancher, Cliven Bundy.  But the real power of his essay was the call for us to renew our
commitment to conservation. Specifically, he outlined actions that President Obama has the authority to take in these final years of his term. Babbitt’s ideas include the establishment of new national monuments, the expansion of existing parks and monuments, and additions to National Wildlife Refuges. The Antiquities Act provides President Obama with grand opportunities for his environmental legacy. Let’s encourage him to seize them. Read the Tucson Weekly article!