Dominion or Delusion: Why Our Survival Depends on Evidence, Not Vibes

Arielle’s father’s health had taken a turn. In their elderly-filled Florida town, the cost of health care would quickly drain their retirement, leaving any golden years ahead of them financially bleak. So she made the hard choice: to move them to Portugal, where Arielle’s dad had doctor’s appointments waiting the day they arrived and the cost was affordable. This wasn’t un-American or privileged. It was survival. We’ve all felt this dread in one way or another—many of us between the years 2020 and 2022

Echoes of the Pandemic

Just a few years ago, the fight was personal and urgent. I spent months explaining what we knew about the transmission and severity of COVID, even as they trusted the latest TikTok post over peer reviewed science. Then came the miracle: mRNA vaccines—promising, fast, and lifesaving, accelerated by President Trump through Operation Warp Speed. But according to a recent Washington Post exposé, in his second term the President and his administration quietly cut nearly five hundred million dollars from NIH vaccine research in 2025. More recently, he cut another five hundred million from BARDA, both reductions made under the banner of “Make America Healthy Again” priorities. (Source: The Washington Post, August 2024)

They canceled an opportunity that could have revolutionized how we fight flu, HIV, and even pandemics yet to come. The miracle was, ironically, supercharged by President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, but the investment was squandered. Rather than embrace this renaissance of science and vaccine technology, the administration has vilified it. Instead of relying on scientific research, data, and experts, this administration is relying on extremists and vibes. Viruses do not care what vibe you have; they care about spreading. Sunlight, vitamin D, and other homeopathic remedies may help with some ailments, but they certainly will not stop viral machinery from replicating and spreading like wildfire across a dry field.

An Era Ends And Nobody’s at the Helm

Unfortunately, the old guard of trusted public health experts is gone. Career leadership within scientific agencies such as the CDC and NIH—along with researchers who achieved scientific and public health breakthroughs, and program directors who designed systems to fend off outbreaks—have been dismissed, many of them illegally. Some critical positions remain vacant, while others have been filled by unqualified individuals who have captured the ear of the administration. These new leaders are driven more by clicks and bribes than by facts. Ask yourself: when did owning “libs” and chasing clicks to fuel rage bait become more important than ensuring that data and tools are available to protect public health, our health? It’s pretty clear the ship is listing, if not already sinking.

Health Agencies Under Attack

It’s not paranoia; this is real erosion. In 2024, the FDA quietly scaled back food safety inspections at meat and poultry plants. An internal memo obtained by USA Today showed a twenty percent drop in field visits. Since the beginning of the administration, the situation has only worsened. Already understaffed and unable to keep pace with its safety mandate, about twenty percent of the FDA’s investigational positions remain vacant across the agency’s human foods inspection divisions—critical functions that help keep our food supply safe by conducting reviews such as testing grocery items for harmful bacteria and monitoring food packaging for carcinogenic chemicals like PFAS. Inspections of foreign facilities that produce components of generic drugs have also been affected, reducing oversight and raising the potential for harm to American patients. (Sources: USA Today; Brookings Institution, May 2025; CBS News, June 2025.)

Reporting by NPR and others has documented the recent gutting of staff at HHS, including NIH, FDA, and CDC, revealing that the Trump administration’s cuts—through reductions in force, voluntary resignations, retirements, and illegal firings—have eliminated more than twenty thousand staff members, scientists, and doctors, including roughly one thousand during the government shutdown. (Source: NPR, October 2025.)

Cutting budgets. Cutting jobs. Cutting trust.

And the importance of these jobs may not be immediately obvious. They include positions such as reviewers of new drug applications, program directors who manage large scientific research projects, communications specialists who share information about critical scientific or public health advances and concerns, procurement professionals who purchase laboratory equipment, and many others whose work helps keep our country safe.

Some may cheer for lighter regulation or less bureaucracy. But bureaucracy is not our enemy—disease is. When public health collapses, even the most rugged individualist gets sick. It is healthy publics, not individual bravado, that keep us alive.

Bonus Insight: The $6 Trillion Misinfo Machine—and RFK Jr. as Its Biggest Voice

Meanwhile, consider this: the modern “health and wellness” industry is a 6.3 trillion dollar global behemoth—larger than pharmaceuticals, information technology, or sports—according to the Global Wellness Institute (2024) Global Wellness Institute. Within that vast economy, misinformation is not a bug; it is a feature. Billions of dollars flow each year into products and influencers who promote unproven fads and fear-based advice.

To be fair, regulations require companies to acknowledge that their products are not FDA approved. However, when a famous actor or a doctor endorses them, that disclaimer often fades from view. And who is one of the loudest voices in that space? The current HHS Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was identified by the Center for Countering Digital Hate as responsible for more than thirteen percent of all COVID vaccine misinformation reshared on Twitter in 2021 WikipediaarXiv.

So not only is our public health apparatus floundering—it is being steered by one of the leading purveyors of misinformation fueling one of the richest wellness markets in history. RFK Jr., a proponent of many health trends including the use of beef tallow over seed oils, vaccine denialism, and tracking children’s weight and exercise through wearable devices, does not cite scientific or rigorously tested randomized control trials—fashionably called “gold standard science.” Instead, he claims that acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol), when taken by pregnant women, causes the rise in autism—a theory not supported by pediatricians or empirical evidence.

The call is not just coming from inside the house; the caller is the head of the household.

What’s the Straw That Breaks the Camel’s Back?

Think this cannot get worse? Consider these questions:

• What will happen when there is another health crisis?
• What research will be delayed, and what treatments or cures will be slowed or stopped altogether?
• How many people will die from preventable outbreaks or delayed treatments?
• At what point does the public say, no more—bring back science?

Nobody knows the exact moment, but we can all see the rising news coverage of yet another contaminated food recall, another preventable illness spreading at festivals, or a vaccine-resistant flu. By then, our health system may no longer have the agile, evidence-based leadership we once relied on.

Why Trust Matters More Than Ever

Public health is not like ordering takeout. It runs on trust. Without that trust, we are all vulnerable. Rugged individualism may sound noble, but in a public health emergency, it can be deadly. When you refuse a vaccine because “your body, your choice,” you are not just rejecting a shot—you are discarding the shield that protects everyone else, especially the most vulnerable among us.

We exist on a living planet where disease is as natural as the next trending app. But unlike the fickle whims of social media, science gives us a way out. We can study microbes, engineer vaccines, and track outbreaks. And it is not just microbes and emerging infectious diseases, it is cancer, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, stroke, diabetes, and mental health. It is any number of diseases or conditions that affect so many of our friends and loved ones. But we must rely on evidence, not clicks, preconceived notions, or bribes, to guide us. That is how we thrive, not because we are tough, but because we are thoughtful.

‘How’ Matters Just as Much as ‘What’…If Not More

To be fair, some of the health questions raised by this administration are valid. What are the health effects of ultra processed foods? Should we be consuming so much artificial dye? These are legitimate questions that most of us can agree are worth answering. However, the process of finding those answers must be grounded in sound scientific principles and free of preconceived expectations about what the outcome should be.

Remember trust? How can the public trust the results when there is a bias toward extracting a preconceived answer? For example, if you think acetaminophen (AKA Tylenol) causes autism, you might be able to look at the data in a way that confirms your view. In this case, acetaminophen is effective at reducing fevers and is given to pregnant women who develop them. Having a fever while pregnant may seem like a minor illness, but it can prove tragic. Fevers can cause seizures, which can result in fetal death. Fevers during pregnancy have also been linked to autism, so ask yourself–is it the fever or the acetaminophen that may be causing autism?

And would you rather face a slightly increased risk of fetal death or a potential developmental condition? How do we actually make Americans healthier? By working on the entire system rather than cherry-picking a decades-old grievance. Food, environmental contamination, access to preventive care, and breaks that let children move during the school day—all of these are connected. We have the tools to address these systems. The question is: do we have the leadership?

What Holds the Rudder? A Simple Map

Let’s break it down: our public health system is a machine made of interconnected parts.

• HHS (Health and Human Services) is the strategic control center. It sets the direction and determines when, where, and how to make the machine work.
• NIH (National Institutes of Health) is the idea lab, where breakthroughs begin and where innovation informs what the machine should create or improve.
• CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is the maintenance team, spotting threats early and stopping problems before they spread.
• FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is quality control—safety and efficacy first—ensuring that products work and are not harmful or dangerous.

When these teams are starved, co-opted, or sabotaged, the machine sputters or stops working altogether. No matter who you are—a Harvard graduate or an autoworker, a believer or a skeptic, a liberal or a conservative—you need that machine to run. Public health advances, even the ones you dislike, still save your neighbor, your local farmer, your barista, your child, your pet, and they keep your food safe. Public health protects you whether you cheer or jeer.

A Final Plea

Let’s stop tuning out. Let’s stop believing the spin that “government doesn’t do anything for me” without checking the facts. When the daily rage fades, take a moment to ask yourself: do I want a world guided by science or by soundbites?

It is okay to ask questions. In fact, a healthy society should encourage it. But we should also take responsibility for understanding the risks and benefits, the expectations, and the strength and source of the information we rely on.

If you are still reading this, let this be the moment you demand better—because our future depends on it. Speak up, write in, and vote for evidence. Do it for Arielle’s dad, for yourself, for your children or grandchildren, and for every time your own voice was drowned out by bravado.

Our machine needs repair. It is not too late, but it is time.

Sources Cited

1. Washington Post, “NIH vaccine research funds slashed under ‘Make America Healthy’ agenda,” August 2024.
2. Brookings Institute, “The Trump administration’s NIH and FDA cuts will negatively impact patients,” May 2025.
3. CBS News, “FDA food inspector vacancies near 20% after Trump hiring freeze,” June 2025.
4. NPR, “Trump administration says about 4,200 federal employees face layoffs,” Updated October 2025.
5. GAO Report, “HHS staffing declines: NIH & CDC position reductions,” November 2024.