The staff editorial is the majority opinion of The Murray State News Editorial Board.
Our reliance on the sciences is undisputed. From Galileo Galilei to Hedy Lamarr, how we live today has been shaped by some of the brightest scientists through the centuries. There is not a single person that hasn’t benefited from scientific research and experimentation.
Unfortunately, though there is a growing need for technology, climate and disease research, the current presidential administration has taken aim at valuable funding for said research. The devaluing of critical scientific endeavors, while pouring billions upon billion into our military might, put the health and wellbeing of everyone in danger.
In 2017, not everyone was on board with the administration’s take on the sciences. According to the final summary for 2017, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $2 billion budget increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2018. This flew in the face of Trump and his advisers who sought to cut the agency’s budget by $1 billion “as part of a proposal to pay for defense spending increases by cutting domestic programs,” according to ScienceMag.com.
This agency conducts crucial biomedical and disease research, with their current focus being on Alzheimer’s and antibiotic resistance. Advances in our understanding of both could potentially improve the quality of life for millions and curb the effects such debilitating diseases have on societies around the globe.
Despite the pushback from Congress, the current administration has pushed for stagnant budgets or deep cuts to various branches of the sciences which receive federal funding and would collapse without it.
According to Trump’s proposed budget for 2019, agencies such as the EPA and US Geological Survey would receive an 18 percent budget decrease; despite the current administration’s insistence on gun violence being the result of poor mental health, the National Institute of Mental Health would receive a 30 percent budget cut.
These proposed cuts come at a time when defense spending is grossly mismanaged and ballooning out of control. In what Trump has called “An American Budget,” he proposed a 13 percent increase in Department of Defense spending, bringing the total budget to $686 billion. If that doesn’t upset you, it should.
A truly American budget would put a larger focus on the health and wellbeing of its citizens. While the military is an integral part to protecting said health and wellbeing, it’s not the be-all-end-all. Neglecting research into diseases such as AIDS has cost our country thousands of lives. Cancer is a costly disease, but the work of the NIH and its partners could mitigate a bit of the pain and suffering through new treatment options.
The Trump administration has used the sciences and social services as scapegoats for the national debt. They would have you believe these endeavors are driving taxes up and destroying the middle class. Meanwhile, military spending eclipses all other portions of the national budget on a consistent basis. Needless wars fought in ravaged countries – wars which our nation has had more than a subtle hand in starting – drain away billions of dollars from citizens in need.
Our nation’s priorities have long since been skewed toward irrationality. The current administration would have you believe immigrants, documented or not, are destroying our “great country.”
However, the enemy is assuredly within our borders. It is our responsibility to demand the changes we need if we wish to become a healthy and safe citizenry. The sciences have predicted coming threats to the global community, but through them perhaps these can be stopped. We doubt fighter jets will do much to curb the rising oceans, nor automatic rifles against disease.