Cruely and revenge upon one's perceived ideological foes are the core organizing principles of this administration. This is a purge, similar to that of Jews of

Cruely and revenge upon one's perceived ideological foes are the core organizing principles of this administration. This is a purge, similar to that of Jews of the Germany in the 1930s. The NIH in particular and civil servants in general are just one facet of this. The purge of academic ranks is another (eg [1]). What makes this possible is hyper-individualism, decades (if not centuries) of attack on any sort of collectivism and the fomented division of ordinary people based on race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or religion. I'm reminded of this LBJ quote: “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” It echoes fears of the former slave-owning class in Reconstruction that poor white people would unify with freed slaves. It's wild to me that we're reliving Nazi Germany less than a century later while victims of the Nazi regime, direct first-hand witnesses, are still alive. [1]: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/3/29/harvard-cmes-director-departure/ https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/3/29/harvard-cmes-di...