I couldn't agree with the author more and I think these are extremely important points to get across. In fact I was saying much the same thing seven months ago!
Maybe I'm overly sensitive because of the pandemic, but I think it should be even more clear now than ever that facts, science and data aren't the be-all and end-all of policy making.
Unfortunately I feel like the problem has only gotten worse since then.
On the libertarian and populist right, that failure usually involved a recourse to “freedom” as a conversation-stopper, a way to deny that even a deadly disease required any compromises with normal life at all.
But for liberals, especially blue-state politicians and officials, the failure has more often involved invoking capital-S Science to evade their own responsibilities: pretending that a certain kind of scientific knowledge, ideally backed by impeccable credentials, can substitute for prudential and moral judgments that we are all qualified to argue over, and that our elected leaders, not our scientists, have the final responsibility to make.
I couldn't agree with the author more and I think these are extremely important points to get across. In fact I was saying much the same thing seven months ago!
Unfortunately I feel like the problem has only gotten worse since then.
Also related: One of my favorite YouTubers just put out a great video on the issue of Scientism - The Problem with the 'Yay Science!' Crowd