Is Gov funded research...Socialism?

[Stu]

Is it the thinking of the current administration that
government expenditures on the advancement of
basic scientific knowledge another area of our
society that has been socialized. Is that the driving
force behind the administrations de-funding of
basic scientific research.

Is the citizens' resistance to reduced public spending
on basic research an example of the latent economic
socialism that is the underpinnings of our dominant
economic system?

 

[Stu]

The clearest reasoning for the GOPs willingness to gut our scientific institutions is that those institutions are Socialist. Socialism is, in their view, the absolute enemy of freedom. So the argument is not about the potential and realized value of Socialism in our society, it is about how Socialism must be uprooted in all its forms.

The exact "why" of this position, that socialism must be rooted out, is not exactly made clear. Firstly much is made about where the money comes from to pay for such programs, that there is not enough money for them. There is a lot of talk about the power of the markets and whispers of the dangers world wide domination by governmental bureaucracies.

The reality is that our economy is anchored by socialistic principals and that attempting to strip them away will do lasting damage.
well that what i think i think, anyway

 

[Eventhorizon]

Are government funded roads socialism? The answer is yes. Clearly there are more extreme versions. This is true of everything. However it simply makes sense to have a basic infrastructure in place in order to help facilitate growth. "Research" can encompass a lot of things. I wouldn't agree with all research but so long as it is being done in the interest of making the country stronger I am fine with it.

 

[Stu]

Is there then a strong chance that federal funding for roads and bridges will dry up?

 

[Eventhorizon]

Is there then a strong chance that federal funding for roads and bridges will dry up?

In a depression maybe for a while. Other than that I can't see it as likely.

 

[invisible]

I find it pretty difficult to understand why anyone would not want a balanced economy.

It's not like a corporate organisation is going to sponsor pure blue sky research or any other kind of research that doesn't further the commercial interests of that organisation.

 

[Stu]

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/...rump-s-infrastructure-plan-as-sleight-of-hand

 

[Eventhorizon]

Interesting. I would be interested to hear Trumps rationalization behind the cuts.

 

[t56hg2bv]

I find it pretty difficult to understand why anyone would not want a balanced economy.

It's not like a corporate organisation is going to sponsor pure blue sky research or any other kind of research that doesn't further the commercial interests of that organisation.

It's hard for me to see where government would invest in corporate research and development. It is being done at such a large scale in other areas of investment. If the ideas are there and the people behind them are capable the money will be made available, whether it is through large organizations or crowd sourcing.

Truth is, our government isn't interested in funding development because organizations aren't staying within geographical boundaries. Some of these organizations have valuations larger than entire countries.

If our economy is to be balanced then policy can do that over time. The question is, will special interest groups allow that to happen or will they ostracize those who take a stand in politics.

 

[invisible]

It's hard for me to see where government would invest in corporate research and development. It is being done at such a large scale in other areas of investment. If the ideas are there and the people behind them are capable the money will be made available, whether it is through large organizations or crowd sourcing.

Truth is, our government isn't interested in funding development because organizations aren't staying within geographical boundaries. Some of these organizations have valuations larger than entire countries.

If our economy is to be balanced then policy can do that over time. The question is, will special interest groups allow that to happen or will they ostracize those who take a stand in politics.

Ooooooooops! I never meant to suggest that government should invest in private enterprise research! Maybe I am a little confused about what you wrote. Honestly, I'm not completely sure what we're talking about anymore. I am a little out of my depth here perhaps! What I was trying to say is that I don't think that corporate research can be objective in the same way that publicly funded research can be, and that it is necessary for the government to fund university research in general to promote healthy research outcomes. Hope this makes things a little clearer.

 

[t56hg2bv]

To start government and special interest groups (broad term for corporations) are synonymous. It was my understanding that research dollars were being cut from a federal level (by other posters). I haven't bared witness to this because I don't actively research it but was merely trying to offer some reasoning as to why that might be the case.

University research projects are constantly in process. My mothers SO is a professor at Arizona State University and I know there are opportunities for grants from the university, state, feds, and corporations. The projects can be initiated in a variety of ways but the downside is ownership can become unclear when other people's money becomes involved. The universities wants to make money off the projects just like everyone else. Same can be said for the Feds. I'm not sure the Feds can be much more "objective" than any other investment parties these days. I guess I'm a bit cynical about anything that is government based funding. And, if you mention anything that is fringe in a university setting it will get you ostracized. The days of thinking outside the box seem non existent unless you already have proof and perhaps even a functioning prototype. I hope I'm not being too big of a negative nelly but I really do struggle to see positives with the government and "the greater good" these days.

I'm sure I should be more open minded. Perhaps if I saw some example and testimonies that were more positive then I might be optimistic.