An article in on-line publication "Unherd" attempts to describe the cause of the slashes in federal academic research funding as the monolithic ideology found in the ivy-covered halls. If only it were that simple.
The reality is that a huge portion of academic research funding has gone to validating neo-Whig projects designed to produce fortunes for entrepreneurs. These would be AI data centers and associated software, hydrogen fuel implementation, wind turbines, solar power arrays, CO2 sequestration, big battery development and other similar fantasies. Academic scientists apply for grants to investigate these subjects, their findings are covered by the media and the entrepreneur/capitalists go into action beside the government regulators, who change sides regularly and are part of the process of distribution of federal funds.
The ideology involved isn't political, it's all about money for everyone involved. The US capitalist system has reached a point where the immense growth of the post-WWII economy has become obsolete in financial terms. It's a mature system. The railroads have all been built, airports, too. Steel mills, automobile factories, factory farms, dead tree media, educational institutions, retailing, etc. have all reached a point where further development will be of minor importance if it happens at all. Just as manifest destiny was the great opportunity for the Whigs, the non-hydrocarbon energy scheme is the growth industry for their descendents.
This is dismissing the corruption and dishonesty in peer-reviewed academia, where more and more research is found to be phony.
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