It's always funny seeing socialists say they "follow the science."
Because when Stalin decided DNA was right-wing propaganda, they shot every scientist who disagreed. The story of how ideology murdered genetics—and millions of people. 🧵
Because when Stalin decided DNA was right-wing propaganda, they shot every scientist who disagreed. The story of how ideology murdered genetics—and millions of people. 🧵
Picture this: You're a brilliant geneticist in 1930s Soviet Union.
You've spent years studying how traits pass from parents to offspring.
Your research could help feed millions. But there's a problem. Your science contradicts the party line.
Stalin's solution? Kill the science by killing the scientists.
You've spent years studying how traits pass from parents to offspring.
Your research could help feed millions. But there's a problem. Your science contradicts the party line.
Stalin's solution? Kill the science by killing the scientists.
Meet Trofim Lysenko—a peasant turned "scientist" who claimed genetics was bourgeois propaganda.
His "revolutionary" theory? Plants of the same class would never compete with each other because they understood socialist cooperation.
So he planted seeds so close together they choked each other to death.
His "revolutionary" theory? Plants of the same class would never compete with each other because they understood socialist cooperation.
So he planted seeds so close together they choked each other to death.
But Lysenko had something real scientists didn't: Stalin's personal blessing.
When Lysenko spoke in 1935, Stalin stood up and applauded: "Bravo, Comrade Lysenko. Bravo!"
From 1934 onwards, geneticists started disappearing.
By 1948, Lysenko could declare: "The Central Committee has examined my report and approved it." Genetics was now officially "fascist science."
When Lysenko spoke in 1935, Stalin stood up and applauded: "Bravo, Comrade Lysenko. Bravo!"
From 1934 onwards, geneticists started disappearing.
By 1948, Lysenko could declare: "The Central Committee has examined my report and approved it." Genetics was now officially "fascist science."
More than 3,000 biologists lost their jobs.
Hundreds were executed.
— Izrail Agol, 45. Executed as a "Trotskyist."
— Solomon Levit, 42. Shot as an "American spy."
— Georgii Nadson, 72. Founded Russia's microbiology lab. Bullet to the head, buried in a mass grave.
— Even Nobel laureate Hermann Muller had to flee the country.
Their crime? Believing in DNA.
Hundreds were executed.
— Izrail Agol, 45. Executed as a "Trotskyist."
— Solomon Levit, 42. Shot as an "American spy."
— Georgii Nadson, 72. Founded Russia's microbiology lab. Bullet to the head, buried in a mass grave.
— Even Nobel laureate Hermann Muller had to flee the country.
Their crime? Believing in DNA.
Nikolai Vavilov’s case breaks your heart.
He was Lysenko's own mentor who taught him everything. When Vavilov realized his student had become a monster, he spoke up. He knew Lysenko's pseudoscience would cause mass starvation.
Arrested in 1940. Sentenced to death in 1941. Died of starvation in prison in 1943. The man who collected seeds to feed humanity... starved to death.
He was Lysenko's own mentor who taught him everything. When Vavilov realized his student had become a monster, he spoke up. He knew Lysenko's pseudoscience would cause mass starvation.
Arrested in 1940. Sentenced to death in 1941. Died of starvation in prison in 1943. The man who collected seeds to feed humanity... starved to death.
Soviet media went full dystopian.
They published articles titled "Siberia is transformed into a land of orchards and gardens."
They asked the crucial question: "Who do these so-called geneticists really serve?"
Anyone opposing Lysenko was labeled a defender of "mysticism, obscurantism and backwardness."
Sound familiar? When ideology replaces evidence, the first casualty is truth.
They published articles titled "Siberia is transformed into a land of orchards and gardens."
They asked the crucial question: "Who do these so-called geneticists really serve?"
Anyone opposing Lysenko was labeled a defender of "mysticism, obscurantism and backwardness."
Sound familiar? When ideology replaces evidence, the first casualty is truth.
Lysenko's pseudoscience spread like a virus throughout the Communist world.
Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, China. It became the foundation of Mao's "Great Leap Forward." Result? Tens of millions died in famines.
One charlatan's ideology. An entire planet's tragedy.
Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, China. It became the foundation of Mao's "Great Leap Forward." Result? Tens of millions died in famines.
One charlatan's ideology. An entire planet's tragedy.
Today's campus thought police aren't (yet) executing professors.
But the pattern is identical: declare objective truth "reactionary," silence dissenting voices, destroy careers of those who resist.
The method changes. The mentality remains the same. When ideology trumps evidence, people die—sometimes literally, always intellectually.
But the pattern is identical: declare objective truth "reactionary," silence dissenting voices, destroy careers of those who resist.
The method changes. The mentality remains the same. When ideology trumps evidence, people die—sometimes literally, always intellectually.
Ready to learn how to resist intellectual tyranny on your campus?
The first step is understanding how to defend truth when ideology tries to replace evidence—so you never have to choose between truth and survival.
Check out our free College Survival Kit: 8 lessons on staying intellectually free.
👉 go.studentsforliberty.org/college-surviv…
The first step is understanding how to defend truth when ideology tries to replace evidence—so you never have to choose between truth and survival.
Check out our free College Survival Kit: 8 lessons on staying intellectually free.
👉 go.studentsforliberty.org/college-surviv…
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