Sure. That’ll work. From Nature:
Keep shouting to save science: As political leaders on either side of the Atlantic set out contrasting positions on science funding, researchers everywhere need to ensure that their voices are heard.
It is the best and worst of political times for science. … The US government has always been one of the largest and most reliable backers of basic science, but that would clearly change if Trump controlled the purse strings. Many scientists draw hope from the fact that he does not, and it’s already quite clear that Congress — which allocates funding — takes a different view of things. The NIH saw its 2017 budget increase in the deal announced in late April, and the EPA saw a manageable 1% decrease.More.
Shout if you want. But consider:
Squabbles over money come and go. A prosperous economy alleviates them because, in that case, for most politicians, what’s a million? Why get into a career-limiting fight about it?
The United States was generous with science in the last century because, fundamentally, it had money. For example, NASA is currently funding some silliness about supposed religious fears of ET. Probably a wrong use of funds, but no one in the United States is starving to make it happen. Hence no big outrage.
The best way to get money for science is to promote prosperity. And if you have a problem with prosperity, ascetic religion may be a better choice of vocation.
The most serious problem for science right now is the gradual leak into the disciplines of post-modern culture. Ideas such as that Newtonian physics is politically oppressive poison science in a way that cannot be confronted by shoutin’ and marchin’. They make the basic principles behind science meaningless and turn it into an instrument for causes unrelated to understanding nature.
Will Nature have the courage to confront that stuff? Stay tuned.
See also: Nature advises scientists concerned about the marchin’, marchin’ to shout louder
and
Keep marchin’ marchin’: Newtonian physics is oppressive