My guess is there will be people in the room who want to defenestrate Musk, but that the argument is being won by those who do not want to (essentially) create a diplomatic incident by pissing off an influential person in the US govt.
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The RS is the UK's de facto national academy of science and will feel (and may actually be) unable to take radical action without the approval of govt. The UK govt line is to play nice with the fascists in Trump's cabal, and so for the RS to break ranks would be a pretty big step.
I think they *should* break ranks and assert their (at least nominal) independence but, sadly, I don't think they will unless they get a nod and a wink from govt that it's ok to do so.
There is also the factor that a core of any committee will be swayed towards the choice that gives future options vs the choice that cannot easily be reverted.
Not making a choice will lead to the same ransacking of science in the UK that we are seeing in the US. If all being said above is true then it is pathetic and sickening. Oppose fascism or be a defacto fascist. Those really are the only two options right now.
Not choosing today isn’t the same as never choosing, and name-calling is easy when accountability is absent. E.g. A reactionary decision could collapse UK steel jobs through tariffs, leading to mass unemployment—an immediate human cost that the RS cannot resolve. Opportunity cost is very real.
Not choosing today becomes not choosing tomorrow as the longer you allow these people to dig their claws in the harder those claws are to remove. Tariffs are coming either way and they are coming because America chose not to act for so long.
"Choose life… But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else. And the reasons? There are no reasons."
I think they should turf Musk out: of course they should. But let's not kid ourselves that that would be costless
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It is often easier to not make a choice.
"Choose life… But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else. And the reasons? There are no reasons."
I think they should turf Musk out: of course they should. But let's not kid ourselves that that would be costless