MAHA is American Morellism, Not Lysenkoism
A History of Supplements and Drug Abuse
There is a funny thing that happens whenever a reactionary takes an obscenely fascist action, in which liberals will put their hands on their hips and squeal: “What are we, a bunch of stinkin’ commies?!” This is indicative of a grave historical & political illiteracy crisis in America and is exhausting to read when talking about RFK Jr. & the ongoing war on American science & medicine. It also makes the fascist overjoyed: it shows just how easily the liberal mindset can be controlled & manipulated, and the past quarter century has shown how readily liberals will accept the expansion of the state’s capacity to engage in authoritarian measures. From mass surveillance to remote murder, the 2000s is the era of America’s turnkey tyranny.
You will often hear the term “Lysenkoism” when describing Trump and RFK Jr.’s war against American science, but this isn’t quite right. As scientifically minded people, we should strive to use only the most accurate terms. Here is one recent unattributed Bluesky post which illustrates the problem:
“Lysenkoism of the ‘40s caused devastating famines, 15-25 million deaths, lost scientific advancement & brain drain. What an expensive mistake.”
Certainly, absolutely nothing else was happening in the Soviet Union around the 1940s which might have been the root cause of famine. But I digress. The MAHA crusade isn’t merely a “mistake,” but a reactionary campaign with specific goals, much like a certain other campaign being carried out the 1940s.
The Soviet crackpot Lysenko, and his denial of germ theory with regards to managing crop growth, undoubtedly caused serious hardship for the Soviet Union. This is not up for debate, and I am not defending Lysenko or Stalin. However, statements such as the one quoted above are often repeated, and worth interrogating to see if they withstand scrutiny. To quote Chairman Mao:
You must investigate! You must not talk nonsense!
Flaws in Attribution Calculation
A common meme in American political discourse is to claim that the ideology of communism has claimed 100 million victims globally. There even is or was a sign in the putrid heart of consumer crapitalism, Times Square, which states this. One might dare ask just how does one attribute a death to a specific political or economic ideology. If the same people who made such a claim found that capitalism was responsible for more deaths, would they erect a “Victims of Capitalism” memorial? This would naturally include the brutal famines inflicted by the British Empire, the genocide of Native Americans by the United States, the napalm bombings of Korea and Vietnam, on top of countless other for-profit atrocities.
This “100 million victims” figure comes from a long-debunked Black Book of Communism which proclaims that Nazis and their collaborators, who sought to eradicate the Jewish & Slavic peoples of Europe with a fantasy of the “American Frontier” in their eyes, are somehow “victims” of communism. A pretty great advertisement for Communism: “Only communism can convert fascists…into victims.” This “black book” number also blames communism for the deaths of countless imaginary people that were never ever born; a ridiculous proposition.
When you hear claims of massive numbers attributing so-and-so to tens of millions of deaths, such as claims that the COVID-19 vaccine has killed 17+ million Americans or a dozen children, it’s worth interrogating just how those figures are constructed. Like it or not, but the American public is one of the most propagandized & willfully ignorant nations in the world. We love making up fake statistics & absurd stereotype about other parts & peoples of the world that simply don’t hold water.
If we are to be scientifically minded people rallying against reactionary quackery, then we must apply higher standards to ourselves.
A Minor Skirmish of the 1940s
The “skeet” quoted above implies that nothing else going on during the 1940s might have been the root cause of the famines the Soviet Union faced. Would you consider it an indictment of capitalism if we calculated the countless deaths attributable to the miasma theory which dominated 1800s Europe? In reviewing Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map, he argues that many leading doctors and scientists were naturally driven to embrace the pseudoscience of miasma theory due to the overwhelming stench brought on by the Industrial Revolution. One could argue that the gene theory denial of Lysenkoism could also be linked to the trauma of the Second World War: the untold loss of life combined with an apocalyptic devastation of infrastructure and countryside caused by an enemy who believed in their genetic superiority certainly made bringing in the harvest quite difficult.
The Soviet Union never had an easy go of things: from The Great War to a pandemic to a brutal revolution, the fact that the Soviet Union could even begin to mount an effective defense - against not just Hitler’s Germany, but Imperial Japan - is quite an achievement on its own. The Second World War was an apocalyptic event that took the lives of countless millions, and for the people of the Soviet Union, was a fight for their very survival. Even literal witches got involved:
It’s not absurd to suggest that a peoples subjected to such unspeakable horrors might be primed to embrace gene theory denial, however wrong it might be. In shallow liberal criticisms of communist history, they often handwave away what came before, just as HHS Secretary RFK Jr. has washed his hands of responsibility for the recent explosion of measles. Criticisms of China’s revolution for example, will make no mention of a long history of hardship that left behind a great deal of obstacles: the Opium Wars, Taiping Rebellion, Boxer Rebellion, late Qing dynasty decline, warlord era, the invasion of Imperial Japan, a Second World War, and the Chinese Civil War all back-to-back can make founding a government quite difficult!
China is now one of the most dominating influences upon the world while we are undergoing The Century of American Humiliation.
To better describe the pseudoscientific regime of Trump, RFK Jr., and the larger anti-vaccine war on science, we must turn away from mid-20th century Moscow, and instead shift our gaze west towards a bunker in the woods to find the crackpot giving one charismatic German dictator nearly 30 pills a day:
Theo Morell.
Defining Morellism: A Condensed History
Theo Morell was a major quack of his time, as detailed by Norman Ohler in his excellent book Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich. Just like RFK Jr., Morell was also reported to be a serial liar who could not stop running his mouth. Couped up in a cramped and stuffy bunker as the one civilian amongst Hitler’s inner circle, Morell was not having a fun time whilst the Third Reich’s conquest of Russia failed.
The key to the Third Reich’s early success was not superior technology, tactics, or fighting spirit, but instead luck and a lot of Pervitin, a form of...you guessed it! Meth. If your army doesn’t need to sleep for three day, you sure can quickly cover quite a lot of ground! This inevitably led to widespread addiction, which the Wehrmacht was forced turned a blind eye to as a result of massive casualties caused by the arrogance of their leaders. An early 1941 attempt to conquer Moscow resulted in tens of 1000s of Wehrmacht casualties due to a lack of winter coats & reliance upon horse & wagon.
Morell’s preferred treatment to breathe life back into an overstressed Hitler shitting himself to death was an absurd concoction Theo designed himself: combining the muscle, adrenal cortex, liver, and pancreas of pigs and other farm animals, this somehow restored the Fuhrer’s health when combined with opioids. (RFK Jr. is presently on a carnivore diet, supplemented by sauerkraut he makes his wife carry in her Chanel handbag) Not at all the idea of a hypermasculine strongman the world was led to believe. Other medications Theo Morell would prescribe his genocidal patient included: a veterinary stimulant, a body-building supplement that was the by-product of uterine blood, a derivative of bulls’ testicles to treat depression, and another supplement made from the prostates of young bulls.
Are you starting to see why “Morellism” is a more appropriate term to describe RFK Jr. and MAHA?
As the state of Hitler’s war effort grew ever more dire, locking himself away in the cramped shadows like an incel, the Fuhrer began to require so many injections that Morell had to place a special order to Berlin for extra needles. The heroic Red Army turning the tide of the war at Stalingrad led to Hitler developing serious heart problems. If only Karl Marx could have lived to see his most devoted workers literally bring a genocidal monster to his knees.
Morrell and MAHA’s Exploitative Profiteering
While his most important patient was rapidly declining, Morell was busy making himself filthy rich through his connections in the Third Reich. From “Vitamultin” to vitamin & hormone supplements, Theo Morrell was raking in the big bucks. He even took it upon himself to found the world’s first “organotherapeutical factory,” turning all sorts of animal blood, glands, livers, stomachs, spinal cords, testicles, prostates, ovaries, bladders, lungs, and hearts into profitable supplements. Animal livers especially were of great importance to Morrell, believing they raised energy levels, strengthened the immune system, and other absurd nonsense.
Vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez has said that “MAHA” is little more than a federal handout to wellness influencers and scam artists taking advantage of the American public, and Theo Morrell’s financial empire is the blueprint. Even when new medications were banned from being introduced to the market in 1943, Theo Morell exploited his government connections to attain a special exemption. Sadly, he could not find an elixir of youth to reverse the progression of his favorite patient’s condition: losing a World War that he himself started.
After being humiliated at Stalingrad and the Red Army reversing the progression of the war, Hitler’s condition worsens further. Unable to keep food down, Theo Morell begins prescribing his patient the highly addictive Oxycodon, which is synthesized from opium. Juiced to the gills, Hitler was now able to meet with Axis leaders and convince them that victory was near, browbeating them into submission. Suddenly, that anti-drug PSA with the egg & the frying pan makes a lot more sense:
While Hitler’s hopeless crusade continued to rage, Morell multiplied his financial gains by becoming an opium producer. Hitler would quickly become dependent on the needle just to get through rare public appearances. Meth soon became a requirement for those meeting with the drug-addled Fuhrer. Much of the Reich’s leadership became dependent upon cocaine and heroin.
This is the proud “ubermensch” tradition that America’s Health and Human Services Secretary, who has openly admitted to snorting cocaine off of toilet seats and being hooked on heroin, is following in the footsteps of.
From Übermensch Valhalla to Addict Row
On the historic day that young heroes from America, Canada, and Great Britain stormed the beaches of Normandy, Hitler could be found raving over lunch about how the strongest animals in the world, elephants, abhorred eating meat just as he did. Morell would later inject him with another concoction extracted from animal guts. In the aftermath of a failed assassination attempt, a second doctor would begin administering a “Jewish degeneration drug” to the Fuhrer: cocaine.
“This cocaine is wonderful ... Please don’t turn me into a cocaine addict ... I don’t intend to become a cocaine addict ... Look in my nose again and put that cocaine thing in” -Adolf Hitler
Morell, much like the quacks that uphold the tenets of MAHA, was constantly on the defense from skeptics or physicians who actually knew what they were doing. Many became suspicious of his “treatments” and wondered if perhaps Hitler was being taken advantage of, or even poisoned. They would be quickly dismissed, with Morell enjoying his safe space as Hitler’s most trusted dealer.
Both Theo Morrell and the MAHA leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services have fought to circumvent transparency, becoming aggressively defensive at the drop of a hat. Most recently, NIH/CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya squealed “I’m in a political position and you’re not!” at a senior NIH staffer. These childish antics are not the actions of serious medical or scientific professionals.
As Hitler’s World War grew more dire towards the end of 1944, the constant injections grew less and less effective. Years of abusing concoctions derived from animal organs ruined his body’s ability to produce dopamine, and the harder stuff wrecked regular organ function entirely. Outside his fortified bunker, Hitler’s “Master Race” became hooked on meth to cope with the constant humiliation.
One Last Hit
The problem with having a serious drug addiction whilst leading a nation being invaded on all sides is that it starts to become quite difficult “get your fix.” People start “tweaking.” People start coming up with some really bad ideas, especially in the wake of a traumatic event like being on the losing end of D-Day.
Many are familiar with the dramatic images of the landing boats crashing into the Normandy beachhead, under fire from “Hitler’s Typewriter.” Few recall the Nazis’ “genius” response to this. Strapping a bunch of Hitler Youth kids into tiny 2-man submarines and pumping them full of a mix of cocaine, meth, and opioids so they couldn’t sleep for four days, the plan was to disrupt the Allied supply lines with a horde of these tiny submariners. Forced to defecate in used ration tins, many would drown in their own filth after being shot to pieces by Allied air patrols.
Hitler would become hooked on meth before the start of the final year of his life and the Second World War, alongside his regular regiment of injections derived from parasite-afflicted livers; which would see you imprisoned if you administered such a treatment today. New Year’s Day 1945 would see the feared Luftwaffe, also abusing meth, be soundly humiliated for the final time by not only Allied pilots, but their own anti-aircraft guns - possibly also due to meth abuse. Meanwhile, the factories producing all of these amazing drugs for Hitler and his “Master Race” are being bombed into oblivion.
The command bunker at the heart of a besieged Berlin soon found its drug supply quickly drying up. Hitler starts getting pissy with his dealer, who can no longer provide a quick fix for what ails him. Forced to go cold turkey as a consequence of the World War that he started, Hitler became a pathetic, erratic wreck. Like a fable of ancient myth, sugar was all this supposed titan amongst “lesser races” had left to feel anything.
After running out of meth, Germany’s most powerful drug dealer was quickly fired and ejected from the Fuhrer Funhaus. Theo Morell would attempt to salvage his supplements empire, or what little of it was left in a wartorn hellscape now occupied by multiple superpowers - even going so far to beg for an extension on filing his taxes. He wound up captured & interrogated by the Americans for two straight years.
Over 100,000 Nazis followed their leader.
The Morrell Revivalism of MAHA
In our modern times, the drug addict turned HHS Secretary RFK Jr. obsesses over young men being healthy to fight in the military; but against whom? America’s long history of violent foreign expeditions after defeating Hitler has resulted in countless humiliations and a mountain of atrocities; estimated to have killed between 20-30 million across 37 nations. RFK Jr.’s heroic fantasy of commanding a legion of healthy young Übermensch will never be realized, ending just the same as Hitler’s.
The reason “Lysenkoism” is the term liberals use to describe the MAHA ideology over the much more accurate “Morellism,” especially when it comes to medical quackery and profiteering, is because we don’t want to take a hard look in the mirror as a nation and admit that we have a great deal in common Hitler’s Germany, and we didn’t get here overnight. Treating the world as a murder playground, slaughtering innocent people on a massive scale, harboring delusional fantasies of masculine superiority over supposed inferiors. This is not the hallmark of a healthy culture.
Much like Hitler’s Germany, we are destroying ourselves in an impossible and unsustainable crusade of explosive dominance whilst our own state of affairs grows progressively worse. By shouting “Lysenkoism!” and making lazy, inaccurate comparisons to communist regimes, we can - much like a drugged-up Fuhrer - unplug from the reality we’ve made for ourselves. A politics of liberal austerity and snarky retorts, as championed by the Democrats’ 2028 favorite Gavin Newsom, will not be enough to repair the damage done and turn the ship around. Going down that path ends with the streets of Manhattan looking like Dresden, 1945.
We must hold ourselves to a higher standard.
