Can we have a civilized talk about the U.S. water fluoridation industry?

[JackRiddler]

2. Well, this is a start.

At least this first reply isn't the nonsense one frequently sees. There was an article on Jacobin about scientism. It misunderstood what the word actually means, but took it simply as the abuse of science as corporate PR, the distortions that come in through funding by industries, the political considerations, etc. He focused on how Big Ag distorts science (and its presentation) to allay concerns about GMOs. And even this author felt compelled to apply a little preemptive immunization against critics by repeating at the start that he ain't no crazy who thinks fluoridation is bad.

Cliches about anti-fluoridation advocates are embedded in our culture: General Jack D. Ripper, from the Stanley Kubrick film Dr. Strangelove, went mad with paranoia about Communists attacking his “precious bodily fluids” via water fluoridation. This fictional character is surely still far better known than the many environmental scientists and medical professionals, even the dozen Nobel Prize winners like the Swedish pharmacologist Arvid Carlsson, who have spoken out against fluoridation.

Having this kind of John Birch-style wing presenting everything capitalist as "communist" is a very useful way to taint and confuse discussion of a lot of issues, of course.