Fight the Power

I loved this story in NatureNews. With heavy debts and a struggling economy, the Japanese government is looking for ways of cutting some corners to save a few pennies. And, go figure, they're looking at cutting substantially into their science and tech funding. This includes cutting deep into some of the country's leading and most important projects, such as a major collaborative supercomputer project.

In response, leading scientists, researchers, and students hastily arranged a meeting at the University of Tokyo to discuss the cuts and the detriment that it would cause. But this phenomenon isn't limited to Japan. It often amazes me how short-sighted politicians and their brethren can be; no matter what country they hail from. Every time the going gets tough, when the economy falters, one of the first things that gets the axe is scientific research funding. What they don't realize is that this funding is what drives future economic prosperity, since it not only leads to future production when the research comes to fruition, but also funds the students that make up the next generation of great minds. Frustrating, just frustrating.

The Tokyo meeting, despite being arranged the night before the meeting was held, ended up drawing a huge crowd. It's reported that the outpouring of protest was staggering, and it's hoped that the attendees, who came from across the country to join the protests, will be able to sway the government from making the cuts that have been recommended.

I personally hope that the protests make a difference, but what this article really got me thinking about is what would happen if our federal government made such proposals. Would the members of the scientific community mobilize? Would national meetings, so heavily attended that they would be standing-room only, take place? Would American Nobel laureates call to arms their fellow researchers? Would students hold protests across the nation?

It's something to think about, to be sure. But we academic types are the minority. So perhaps the more important, though scarier, question is this: would anybody else care?

Or even notice?