Science is useful to the Establishment, only so long as it delivers the answers that the system wants. When people use it to question the ruling narratives of the day, which in the US at the moment is centred around shootings confirming the Left view of the universe – then watch out, even if you are a celebrity, non-white astrophysicist:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/28/neil-degrasse-tyson-sexual-misconduct-investigation
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/08/05/fck-off-smash-mouth-bashes-neil-degrasse-tyson-for-data-minimizing-mass-shootings/
“Celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is facing backlash from rock band Smash Mouth and gun control advocates after he took to Twitter to compare the number of deaths from the latest mass shootings to that of other causes, such as medical errors and suicide. “In the past 48hrs, the USA horrifically lost 34 people to mass shootings. On average, across any 48hrs, we also lose…500 to Medical errors, 300 to the Flu, 250 to Suicide, 200 to Car Accidents, 40 to Homicide via Handgun,” Tyson said after the deadly mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. “Often our emotions respond more to spectacle than to data.” With more than 73,000 responses to his tweet, Tyson also faced scrutiny from other prominent figures who were quick to responded to his tweet. “Cold take, Neil. 200+ Americans died from gun violence in the past 48 hours,” Moms Demand Action founder and gun control activist Shannon Watts responded.“Your data is wrong Neil. In the past 48 hours, 200 people were killed with guns and many more were injured while a powerful organization lobbies to protect its interests,” writer and lawyer Amee Vanderpool wrote in response to Tyson. “Maybe you should add some emotion to your game, because your data collection sucks.”
Predictably enough, Tyson apologised, which is what we would expect. But looking at the figures, even given the 200 dead in 48 hours, most due to gang violence with illegal guns, even given that, there are more than double the deaths in the same time from medical errors alone. These are establishment deaths, accepted because these deaths are part of the money system, and doing something about them would really threaten capitalism. Big Medi is a sacred cash cow, and has powerful lobbies to protect its interests, making the NRA look like a kindergarten.