It is almost impossible to conceive that America is undergoing the equivalent expression of China’s Cultural Revolution, in the United States. The Republican Party is intent on destroying liberal thought at Universities. Destroying not just ‘liberal arts’ programs, but liberalism seems to be a focus. Their anti-woke agenda, has become an anti-academia program, including the hard sciences.
What value does slashing research funding from the NIH, for example do for America?
According to H. Holden Thorp, the editor of ‘Science’, “for every dollar spent on academic research, roughly another dollar is needed for lab equipment, support staff, and systems for managing grants. Right now, the government funds a big chunk of these indirect costs, with universities picking up the remainder. If the government reduces its contribution to 15 percent, universities could try to close the gap by raising tuition and eliminating departments, but it wouldn’t be enough. Crucial research projects, including those investigating cures for devastating diseases, would have to be scaled back or jettisoned altogether.”
Government funding in the U.S. has fuelled American scientific and technological dominance. That may well be coming to an end.
Michael Roth, the President of Wesleyan University stated, “Maybe we’ll just invest in World Wrestling, but I don’t think that’s going to mean that other countries and other cultures won’t continue to invest in the capacity of their citizens to learn in such a way as to create new modes of living, new modes of fighting disease, new modes of creating companies. To torch America’s advantage in these realms seems like madness.“
By comparison, China is doubling down on investing in Universities.
In America, madness does seem to be in the air. Deliberately damaging universities because you believe their ‘thought’ to be too liberal is asinine.
America seems to be intent on destroying its institutions, its sources of higher learning and what has provided an 80 year advantage in science and all of its fields of study.
To what end?
Simply to punish the left and inflict pain.
Vance recently stated,
“We’re going to continue to empower the colleges and the universities that make it impossible for conservative ideas to ultimately carry the day.”
America is turning into a new version of China combined with what seems to be Mao’s autocratic vision, whereas China today is acting much more like the west has for the last 80 years.
Who are the autocrats? Who are those without vision, and who are those with a constraining and unenlightened view of the world and its future?
The answer could not be clearer.
Trump and the GOP.
An article from Michelle Goldberg is where the above quotes were taken entitled, “Trump Wants to Destroy All Academia, Not Just the Woke Parts”.
I believe she’s right. Intelligence and education stand in the way of Trump’s kleptocracy, autocratic rule and his transactionalist view of the world.
J.D.Vance is equally ignorant, and possibly more arrogant.
The western democracies need to not just do the opposite. They need to articulate a vision that is based on trust, the rule of law, and standards of practice that support coherence and clearly defines that a message of collaboration is needed.
Action is necessary, not just commentary.
For Canada, ignorance is anathema. We are the most educated nation on earth, that may well, in short order, reside next to the most ignorant, at least in intent.
For us? Not Trump, not ever.
Bullies, extortion and contempt for the rule of law, is no way to run a country.
As a Canadian, we will fight Trump’s arrogance, ignorance and stupidity until he is dead, and his deranged concepts erased.
We want nothing to do with the America that trump envisions and we will join with the E.U., and the other actual democracies in the west to maintain and develop institutions designed specifically to enhance the full range of possibilities, not some narrow view of the world that reinforces prejudice, hate, and ignorance.
And, if necessary, we will fight to maintain what we have and who we are.
Trump, can go fuck himself.
Leave a Reply