We don’t need no stinkin’ scientists
by digby
Is this a great country or what?
New data compiled by a coalition of top scientific and medical research groups show that a large majority of scientists are receiving less federal help than they were three years ago, despite spending far more time writing grants in search of it. Nearly one-fifth of scientists are considering going overseas to continue their research because of the poor funding climate in America.
The study, which was spearheaded by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) and will be formally released next week, is the latest to highlight the extent to which years of stagnant or declining budgets, made worse by sequestration, have damaged the world of science.
More than 3,700 scientists from all 50 states participated in the study, offering online responses in June and July 2013. They offered sobering assessments of the state of their profession. Eighty percent said they were spending more of their time writing grants now than in 2010, while 67 percent said they were receiving less grant money now than they were back then. Only two percent of respondents said they had received money from their employers — predominantly academic institutions — to make up for the loss of federal funds.
So, what’s the problem? As long as we have Jesus and the the Invisible Hand (pretty sure they are the same thing) we don’t need a bunch of scientists wasting our hard earned money. Our problems will all go away as long as rich people are properly rewarded for their great service to our society. It’s like magic.
I am beginning to agree with the conservatives about one thing: the self-esteem movement has hurt this culture terribly. However it’s not the squishy ladymen on the left who have taken it to heart, however. It’s the right wing yahoos who believe the United States has been ordained by God to be the “greatest country the world has ever known.” The fact that we are rapidly turning ourselves into a second rate backwater means nothing to them because well — we’re Number One! Everybody says so.
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