US will no longer be first in science

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is really hard to believe this is what we want: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/science/trump-science-budget-cuts.html

Just a quote from that article: he $154 billion figure the smallest amount that the federal government has spent on science in this century. ... The proposed drop in federal funding for science research, if approved by Congress, could let China match or take the lead in global science investments, Ms. Zimmermann said. ... In April, the science group published figures showing that China had greatly increased support for its scientific enterprise in the past two decades. As of 2023 — the most recent year available for comparisons — China’s investment was close to equaling that of the United States.

Word is Trump and the republicans brain trust think China is so far ahead on green tech, pharmaceuticals, medical advances and green energy that the US can not ever catch up. The only areas the US can compete in is oil and gas tech and some agriculture areas. So they have decided to throw the towel in. This is why all the research is being canceled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is really hard to believe this is what we want: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/science/trump-science-budget-cuts.html

Just a quote from that article: he $154 billion figure the smallest amount that the federal government has spent on science in this century. ... The proposed drop in federal funding for science research, if approved by Congress, could let China match or take the lead in global science investments, Ms. Zimmermann said. ... In April, the science group published figures showing that China had greatly increased support for its scientific enterprise in the past two decades. As of 2023 — the most recent year available for comparisons — China’s investment was close to equaling that of the United States.

Word is Trump and the republicans brain trust think China is so far ahead on green tech, pharmaceuticals, medical advances and green energy that the US can not ever catch up. The only areas the US can compete in is oil and gas tech and some agriculture areas. So they have decided to throw the towel in. This is why all the research is being canceled.

They are dumb.

[Anonymous]

I think it is even worse than this. Did you read this weird interview of Peter Thiel in the New York Times? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/opinion/peter-thiel-antichrist-ross-douthat.html

Thiel seems to believe that because cars and houses haven't changed much in the past 50 years, that science has come to a stand still. It is a very weird attitude. He thinks it needs to be disrupted, and doesn't seem to think cutting edge science needs money.

Too few people work with their hands these days. They just don't understand how hard it is to build things. They also seem to have a 2-year-old fascination with big loud things, discounting the incredible progress in medicine, energy sources, cosmology, material science etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is really hard to believe this is what we want: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/science/trump-science-budget-cuts.html

Just a quote from that article: he $154 billion figure the smallest amount that the federal government has spent on science in this century. ... The proposed drop in federal funding for science research, if approved by Congress, could let China match or take the lead in global science investments, Ms. Zimmermann said. ... In April, the science group published figures showing that China had greatly increased support for its scientific enterprise in the past two decades. As of 2023 — the most recent year available for comparisons — China’s investment was close to equaling that of the United States.

Word is Trump and the republicans brain trust think China is so far ahead on green tech, pharmaceuticals, medical advances and green energy that the US can not ever catch up. The only areas the US can compete in is oil and gas tech and some agriculture areas. So they have decided to throw the towel in. This is why all the research is being canceled.

money and less red tape could easily change this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is even worse than this. Did you read this weird interview of Peter Thiel in the New York Times? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/opinion/peter-thiel-antichrist-ross-douthat.html

Thiel seems to believe that because cars and houses haven't changed much in the past 50 years, that science has come to a stand still. It is a very weird attitude. He thinks it needs to be disrupted, and doesn't seem to think cutting edge science needs money.

Too few people work with their hands these days. They just don't understand how hard it is to build things. They also seem to have a 2-year-old fascination with big loud things, discounting the incredible progress in medicine, energy sources, cosmology, material science etc.

Peter Thiel doesn’t think that science needs money because he’s afraid that his will be taxed.

He’s not wrong about stagnation wrt cars/transportation/housing/middle class, but he’s wrong about the reasons. Things stagnate when there’s no investment in science and a loss of the middle class. Republicans have been starving both of those for forty years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is even worse than this. Did you read this weird interview of Peter Thiel in the New York Times? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/opinion/peter-thiel-antichrist-ross-douthat.html

Thiel seems to believe that because cars and houses haven't changed much in the past 50 years, that science has come to a stand still. It is a very weird attitude. He thinks it needs to be disrupted, and doesn't seem to think cutting edge science needs money.

Too few people work with their hands these days. They just don't understand how hard it is to build things. They also seem to have a 2-year-old fascination with big loud things, discounting the incredible progress in medicine, energy sources, cosmology, material science etc.

Peter Thiel doesn’t think that science needs money because he’s afraid that his will be taxed.

He’s not wrong about stagnation wrt cars/transportation/housing/middle class, but he’s wrong about the reasons. Things stagnate when there’s no investment in science and a loss of the middle class. Republicans have been starving both of those for forty years.

Science used to do better under republicans (just slightly better). But this new party that goes by the same name? It seems to have zero understanding of science, and what it takes to build wealth that works for most people, not just the oligarches who own a natural monopoly that just oozes out of the ground.

[Anonymous]

The liberal answer to anything is to always spend more money, never bothering to ask if it's being spent effectively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The liberal answer to anything is to always spend more money, never bothering to ask if it's being spent effectively.

Do you really feel clever just saying this without any evidence at all that it is being wasted? Despite the results we seeing coming out?

Is it really better if we spend our times at garbage dumps stripping resistors off used electronics like they do in Turkey while the Chinese get their stuff special delivery straight from the factory? that is a good use of research time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The liberal answer to anything is to always spend more money, never bothering to ask if it's being spent effectively.

Do you really feel clever just saying this without any evidence at all that it is being wasted? Despite the results we seeing coming out?

Is it really better if we spend our times at garbage dumps stripping resistors off used electronics like they do in Turkey while the Chinese get their stuff special delivery straight from the factory? that is a good use of research time?

No idea what you are on about.

[Anonymous]

Probably a good thing. What has science been giving us lately? Corona virus, micro-plastics, forever chemicals, screens we interact with more than people... Science has been on a roll giving us the tools to destroy and dehumanize each other.

[Anonymous]

Because that’s what Trump wants. That’s what makes him feel like a big, important man in charge. Smart people who earned their degrees make him very, very insecure. So he wants to punish them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably a good thing. What has science been giving us lately? Corona virus, micro-plastics, forever chemicals, screens we interact with more than people... Science has been on a roll giving us the tools to destroy and dehumanize each other.

Thanks for telling us that you don’t follow science journalism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The liberal answer to anything is to always spend more money, never bothering to ask if it's being spent effectively.

The conservative answer is that God will provide cell phones, airplanes, nuclear power, and genetic therapy, without taxpayers having to spend a dime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably a good thing. What has science been giving us lately? Corona virus, micro-plastics, forever chemicals, screens we interact with more than people... Science has been on a roll giving us the tools to destroy and dehumanize each other.

except that they will still be invented. they will be invented in China and Europe. So you'll still get poisoned, just by your new overlords.

[Anonymous]

Seems like being last in science is what this Republican administration wants.