DUMB RESEARCH WITH YOUR MONEY
Where in the Constitution of the United States is it written that Mrs. Johnson, a hardworking maternity ward nurse at Riverside Hospital, must pay a significant slice of every paycheck to federal taxes which are redistributed to a wealthy university, or one of the thousands of "institutions," to pay for some academic's research study? If Mrs. Johnson was ever able to stop working long enough to review how her money was being spent, I believe it wouldn't be so pleasant in the newborns nursery.
It is unconstitutional to take Mrs. Johnson's money for these academic adventures, and a great number of these studies are nonsensical research with pre-determined, confirmation-bias results which a fifth-grader could have told us, while saving us millions of dollars.
For example, last week Michael Kremer, Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee were awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for their ground-breaking economic studies. Profs. Duflo and Banerjee, who are married to each other and teach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) traveled to India and conducted an experiment to compare changes in child immunization rates in several villages. David Harrison and Paul Hannon for the Wall Street Journal reported, "In some villages, the researchers offered families a bag of lentils and a set of metal plates to encourage them to immunize their children. Children in those villages were more than six time as likely to be immunized, they found."
This is brilliant! We discovered that poor people will show up if we bribe them with food and silverware. I know guys that will go to Wal-Mart when they know the lady who passes out free samples is on duty, and that weekend Buffalo Wild Wings had the buy-one-beer-get-the-next-one-free promotion I think we watched 22 football games in a row!
Harvard Professor Kremer traveled to Kenya and "found that children treated for intestinal worms are more likely to attend school and work in higher-paying occupations than those who weren't treated because of funding limitations, making it cost-effective for governments to fund mass-deworming campaigns." So, not only did we have a Captain Obvious moment to understand that children who receive better medical care will attend school more frequently, but we even have attempted to document a study in order that one special interest group, or dare say the dewormer pharmaceutical company, can pursue their end objective of more government funding.
Now, remember last year's Post, "The Government Has No Money," to know that when I say "government funding," there actually is no such thing. There is just Bob, Susan, Marge and Mrs. Johnson funding. Do you feel good about Harvard and MIT taking your tax dollars to send these academics on adventures which you will never get to experience, yourself? Also remember that in our recent Post, "Harvard's Discrimination Keeps Going," that even with a gazillion-dollar endowment, Harvard still chooses to take your tax dollars for these "studies," and then the Nobel Prize Committee actually reinforces this ridiculousness. This is the elitist, academia, deep state stuff that makes "fly-over-country" taxpayers lose their minds as they struggle to pay their own bills.
For fun let's review a few other federally-funded studies. Senator Tom Coburn has compiled an annual waste and abuse list, titled "Wastebook," and Derek Draplin at the University of Michigan created "The College Fix." A few on their lists:
1. The National Science Foundation (your money) awarded Professor Terrie Williams of the University of California - Santa Cruz $856,000 for testing mountain lions on treadmills. The study concluded that "mountain lions do not have the aerobic capacity for sustained, high-energy activity." Rather, "they are power animals...who use a burst of speed and the force of the pounce to knock down or overpower their prey." Didn't I learn that on an episode of "Gunsmoke?"
2. The National Science Foundation also funded the University of Rochester study of the gambling habits of monkeys. It was concluded that the monkeys, just like my Vegas golf trip buddies, continued to ignore random scenarios and "make choices as if they expected a streak. The monkeys showed the hot-hand bias consistently over weeks of play." I can't tell you how many times we had to scream at Kevin to get up from the blackjack table. "Now cash in your chips before you lose it all again!"
3. One more from our favorite National Science Foundation (remember, your money). The Foundation funded Columbia University $5.2 million to create an interactive game aimed at engaging people to get involved in climate change activism. They created Future Coast, "a collaborative game set in an alternative world where fictional voicemails have been transported back in time. One message describes sunny 75 degree weather in Antarctica compared to a chilly -2 degrees in Arizona with expected hailstorms." I am not making this up!
The federal government collects approximately $4.5 trillion each year from all of us and redistributes it like this, and the polls claim that over half the country is okay with raising taxes and giving them more! What is the definition of insanity?
For decades I have been shocked at the absurdity of these farces presented as research studies in academia, and hopefully now that you are aware, you are too. Do everything in your power to stop giving technocrats your money, government and academic. They have no capitalistic bottom line, no consumer need to satisfy, no competition to sharpen the saw of efficiency, and no constitutional right to use your money. Their adventures weaken your lifestyle, your security and retirement, and your pursuit of happiness.
Be educated. Understand what is really going on with your money. Choose not to be a pawn. The Nobel Prize Committee might not take you out for champagne brunch, but it would have been on your tab, anyways. Stay diligent!
"The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow." - Ingvar Kamprad
** Thank you to the WSJ, Forbes, Fortune, Wastebook, & The College Fix.
** For more information on Jeff's Books, Blog, and Legal Challenge, please visit www.jeffmartinovich.com.
** To access JAM Views directly please visit jeffreyamartinovich.blogspot.com
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