Dummy Know-It-All nadinbrzhzchczszchski Continues To Campaign

[GOBUCKS]

nadinbrzezinski  (1000+ posts)        Thu Dec-23-10 03:58 PM
Original message
On government research grants and "waste." 
There is this rising belief, thanks to right wing media, that research IS a waste. Well reality is that some things would simply have never seen the light of day if it wasn't for that investment in basic research. The MOST OBVIOUS of this is... the Web. When ArpaNet invested the seed money for that little project to link three universities, it was not only science fiction for most... if they could even conceive of it, but it was one of those things no sane investment officer at the giant tech companies of the day, would invest in. I mean, it was a dream.

Well, you and I are benefiting from that "government waste," and as we move more and more to believe that this is "waste" we are cutting our own nose to spite pur face. There is a reason why this kind of basic research is moving away from the US and to OTHER countries, chiefly to the EAST.

I wonder when will people who just love to spout this will realize... that no, we are NO LONGER issuing as many patents from basic research as oh China... yet another marker on our fall from super power status.

Oh and there is more, ACCESS... is far better in OTHER PLACES than in the US.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x62425

Do you think she knows voting closed last week?

[jukin]

Sorry DUmb****, it was DARPA  that made the back bone. So it was "DEFENSE Department waste." Then it was all private enterprise and small business.

[compaqxp]

No research is a waste but sometimes it's a bit over funded.

[BlueStateSaint]

No research is a waste but sometimes it's a bit over funded.

When it's stupid shit like trying to determine the mating habits of Hungarian wild boars and how their mating success is affected by force-feeding them radioactive beer (or some stupid topic like that), it's worthless and doesn't need to be financed by the Federal government.  I'm sure that another member here can give you real, no-****ing-shit examples of government waste in the research fields.