Using federal funds, i.e., tax dollars, to fund stem cell research is another bad idea in long list of governmental intrusions into the lives of American citizens. Supporters of federal funding claim that without this money stem cell research in this country will come to a screeching halt and any future advances in the field will come from outside the United States. The New England Journal of Medicine goes so far as to postulate that government money is "a prerequisite to the availability of a well-prepared research workforce" without which "these experiments would probably be conducted outside the United States". In fact, in a recent article the Journal repeats that last sentence over and over like a mantra, or more accurately, a broken record.
The NEJM is guilty of obfuscating the issue. Stem cell research in the United States is perfectly legal and ongoing in private labs, with private funding. Proponents of federal funding are only annoyed that they may be denied the opportunity to run an industrial vacuum cleaner through the public treasury. The claim that U.S. scientists can't compete with other countries such as Israel, the U.K., Australia, the Czech Republic, Singapore, and Korea (no mention as to whether that's North or South Korea...I'll assume they mean South) is inflammatory, not to mention asinine. One can only imagine the gasps of shock...we can't compete with Singapore? The Czech Republic? The NEJM, leftist publication that they are, is merely adopting the default fall back position of the leftist/progressives in this country, that everybody else in the world does things better than the U.S.. Well, like my granny used to ask, if everybody was jumping off a bridge, would you do it too? Evidently yes, if I worked for the NEJM.
The NEJM does not say anywhere in the article if government funds are driving stem cell research in any of those supposedly superior countries. For the sake of argument let's say they are. What does that change? Are our scientists going to jump ship for a villa on the outskirts of Prague? Will there be a mass exodus to the islands of Singapore? Are there really that many American scientists with a taste for kimchi that would make a move to South (North?) Korea attractive? Probably not. But again, suppose they do? If stem cell research is the hope of humanity what does it matter where the research is conducted? Wouldn't the most important thing be that the research continues?
And there you have it. No matter what language the argument is couched in, it's always about the money. In this case the most money for the least amount of effort. How hard is it to rob someone at the point of a gun anyway?
It's probably safe to assume that opponents of stem cell research, as they are labeled, are in actuality opposing the use of taxpayer dollars to fund such research. Their argument is that if advances in the field are to be made, let the private sector fund the research. If the potential pay off appears promising continued funding will never be a problem. Here also it's about the money. Difference being, it's not about the easy, upfront money but the possible profits resulting from investment and hard work.
Throughout the history of our country it's how we've done things. If an idea has merit some entrepreneurial individual is going to invest in it. It's how our capitalistic society does things. Who cares how they do it in Prague?
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