A Social Scientist’s Implicit Duty: The Unspoken Oath to Safeguard Society

    Social and behavioral scientists may not recite a Hippocratic Oath, but their ethical compass points unmistakably toward a duty to prevent harm. Their mandate is not merely academic—it is moral, civic, and urgent. Like psychologists who are legally bound to report suicidal or homicidal ideation, social scientists are ethically compelled to sound the alarm when societal structures begin to fracture.

   This responsibility transcends the ivory tower. It demands that scholars engage with the world as it is—messy, polarized, unequal—and use their tools of inquiry to illuminate paths away from harm. Whether analyzing the corrosive effects of disinformation, the widening chasm of economic disparity, or the erosion of democratic norms, their findings must be communicated not just to peers, but to the public, policymakers, and communities who stand to suffer the consequences of inaction.

   Du Bois and the Moral Imperative of Applied Sociology

   W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the most visionary social scientists of the 20th century, understood this duty with crystalline clarity. For Du Bois, sociology was not a sterile discipline—it was a weapon against injustice. In The Souls of Black Folk (1903), he wrote:

    “The function of the university is not simply to teach breadwinning, or to furnish teachers for the public schools, or to be a center of polite society; it is, above all, to be the organ of that fine adjustment between real life and the growing knowledge of life, an adjustment which forms the secret of civilization.”

   This quote is not just poetic—it is prophetic. Du Bois argued that the university, and by extension the scholar, must serve as a conduit between lived experience and intellectual insight. Knowledge, in his view, was not an end in itself but a means to catalyze justice. His work laid the foundation for a model of scholarship that is both rigorous and radically engaged.

   The Scholar as Sentinel

   In today’s climate—where democratic institutions are under siege, truth is contested, and authoritarianism lurks at the edges—the role of the social scientist is more vital than ever. Silence is complicity. Detached observation is no longer sufficient. The scholar must become a sentinel, a voice that warns, educates, and mobilizes.

   This is not a call for partisanship; it is a call for principled engagement. Just as Du Bois wielded data and narrative to expose the realities of racial injustice, contemporary social scientists must use their platforms to confront the forces that threaten societal well-being. The stakes are too high for neutrality. The duty is implicit, but the consequences of ignoring it are explicit—and devastating.

   We have come to this point with the current president who represents not just an existential threat to America, Americans, but also to the world. The turmoil, destabilization, and erratic nature of his current term has been marked by rampant corruption, open bribery, and, troublingly, contemptuous defiance of not only the rule of law but also court orders.

   For instance, in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national whose deportation was deemed unlawful by a court, the administration failed to fully comply with an order to facilitate his return and has since signaled an intent to deport him again to a third country despite ongoing legal proceedings. The administration has also faced multiple legal challenges and court orders over executive actions, including an order that was meant to provide details on an anti-voting executive order, and a number of court rulings have been issued to unfreeze congressionally-appropriated funding that was put on pause. While the Supreme Court has issued rulings that have sided with the administration on some of these issues, such as limiting the power of "universal injunctions," lawsuits and accusations of non-compliance continue. 

   And on Monday, August 11, 2025, President Trump invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to place the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deploy the National Guard in the city, citing a "public safety emergency." During a press conference at the White House on the same day, he stated that the National Guard would play a role in his effort to "restore safety in the nation's capital." The president has since stated on Friday, August 22, 2025, that he may declare a national emergency if Congress does not grant an indefinite extension for the National Guard's presence.

   Under federal law, the president can declare a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act (NEA) of 1976, which provides a framework for such a declaration. The NEA does not define what constitutes a national emergency, leaving the determination to the president's discretion. A declaration of a national emergency triggers over 130 special statutory powers that allow the president to take extraordinary actions.

   Legal checks on a president's ability to abuse these broad authorities are primarily vested in Congress and the judiciary. The NEA requires the president to specify the statutory authorities being used and to transmit the proclamation to Congress. Congress can terminate an emergency declaration through a joint resolution, but this requires a veto-proof majority (two-thirds) to override a presidential veto. The judiciary can review the constitutionality or legality of the exercise of emergency powers, as demonstrated in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952), which ruled that the president could not seize private property without congressional approval. The recent Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, which applies only to official acts, would not inhibit legal checks on actions that are deemed to be outside the scope of a president's official duties or are challenged on constitutional grounds.

   Statutes that may be implicated under a national emergency declaration and could impact United States citizens include, but are not limited to, the following:

   The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C. §§ 251–255): Grants the president the authority to deploy U.S. armed forces domestically to suppress insurrections, rebellions, or other domestic violence.

   The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. §§ 1701–1708): Authorizes the president to regulate international commerce and financial transactions in response to an "unusual and extraordinary threat."

   The Defense Production Act (50 U.S.C. §§ 4501 et seq.): Allows the president to require businesses to prioritize and accept government contracts for national defense.

   10 U.S.C. § 2808: Authorizes the Secretary of Defense, with the approval of the president, to use military construction funds to carry out a project in support of an emergency declaration.

   Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. § 606): Allows the president to shut down or take control of communications facilities.

    The Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1344) and the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq.): These and other environmental statutes contain provisions that allow for waivers or expedited procedures in cases of national emergency.

   Legacy and (even alternative) media has utterly failed us. They've treated this looming crisis not as the existential threat it is, but as just another political spat, a game of tit-for-tat between the parties. They report on Trump's chilling threats to invoke a national emergency with the same nonchalant tone they use for a congressional hearing on pork barrel spending. There's no sense of urgency, no raw anger, no acknowledgment of the fact that he's telegraphing his intent to dismantle our democracy. The legacy media, with its obsession with "both sides," is more concerned with maintaining a false sense of neutrality than with shouting from the rooftops that the republic is in grave danger.

   And what about the so-called "opposition party," the Timidocrats? They've been just as useless. They wring their hands and issue limp-wristed press releases condemning Trump's rhetoric, but they fail to convey the true gravity of the situation to the American people and, indeed, to the world - if America fails. They speak in hushed, legalistic tones about the National Emergencies Act, about the checks and balances, as if that's going to stop a man who has already shown a complete disregard for the rule of law. They're afraid to use the word "tyrant," afraid to call this what it is: a coup in progress. They're banking on a system of laws and norms that Trump has already proven he can, and will, shatter.

   This is a looming crisis, and we should look to South Korea as a stark and powerful example of what is required. When their former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, attempted to declare martial law in December 2024, the South Korean people didn't wait for the politicians to act. They took to the streets en masse, armed with nothing but their defiance and their K-pop light sticks, and they refused to back down until he was impeached. They understood that the government was not going to save them, that they were the final bulwark against authoritarianism. Their victory was a testament to the power of a unified citizenry.  That's the only path forward for us.

   We are at a precipice, teetering on the edge of dissolution. The only thing standing between us and an authoritarian nightmare is our own collective will. A Congress overrun with Republicans and a compromised Supreme Court, which has already given him a pass on immunity, are not going to be a bulwark against this wannabe, two-bit, tinpot dictator. We can't rely on them. The only thing that will stop him is a mass uprising. The moment he breaks the glass and invokes a national emergency—which he could do at any time, but we should be prepared for it to happen as early as August 25, 2025—under the governing statute of 50 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et seq., the National Emergencies Act, we must be ready to flood the streets showing him that this is our country, not his. And I as a social scientist have a moral imperative to call it as I see it.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2ImUJtG-ss