We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself - The New York Times

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/opinion/universities-science-trump-china.html?unlocked_article_code=1.kk8.cBxn.9hYs8iPlZC2u&smid=url-share

In 1958, by a bipartisan vote, Congress passed and President Dwight Eisenhower signed the National Defense Education Act, one of the most consequential federal interventions in education in the nation’s history. Together with the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, it made America into the world’s undisputed leader in science and technology.

Nearly 70 years later, that leadership is in peril. According to the latest annual Nature Index, which tracks research institutions by their contributions to leading science journals, the single remaining U.S. institution among the top 10 is Harvard, in second place, far behind the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The others are:

The University of Science and Technology of China

Zhejiang University

Peking University

The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Tsinghua University

Nanjing University

Germany’s Max Planck Society

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

A decade ago, C.A.S. was the only Chinese institution to figure in the top 10. Now eight of the 10 leaders are in China. If this does not constitute a Sputnik moment, it is hard to imagine what would.

But if America’s response to Sputnik reflected a nation united in its commitment to science and determined to invest in the country’s intellectual potential, we see in our response to China today a bitterly divided, disoriented America. We are currently governed by a leader indifferent to scientific consensus if it contradicts his political or economic interests, hostile to immigrants and intent on crippling the research universities that embody our collective hope for the future. The menace now is within. And with very few exceptions, the leaders of American universities have done little more than duck and cover.

[UpInArms]

1. If only the NYTs had understood TFG's policies and had made every day a story about how evil he was

….

(Slaps forehead)

What was I thinking

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

3. They were busy running "Biden is so old" articles

[maxsolomon]

4. I read plenty of Project 2025 stories in the NYT.

Plenty of stories detailing MFers' corruption, cruelty, and bullshitting. Exposes of the Birther Conspiracy. J5 coverage. Impeachment coverage. So many anti-Trump editorials. It's at the point where I can't stand to read any more about him.

But it's all for naught in the face of the daily Right-Wing Noise Machine onslaught. The Times doesn't carry the weight you think they do - most all their readers are liberals, and there aren't that many of them. Under 12 million. It's a lot of preaching to the choir.

I don't know a single Republican or "Independent" that reads the NYT.

[Irish_Dem]

2. No, we are watching a Russian agent destroy the US for Putin.

[orangecrush]

9. THIS

[Blues Heron]

5. Thanks for nothing NYT you fucking own this shit.

[marybourg]

7. Probably the single most ridiculous post

I have read in my 17 years on DU. Congratulations..

[Blues Heron]

8. How do think we got here, had all these wars, all the shit?

Peeps need to get their heads out of the sand on this, nyt is full fascist enablers, for decades.

[tanyev]

6. One quibble: Trump does NOT have political interests. He only has personal interests.

He manipulates politics and politicians to advance his personal interests.

[Attilatheblond]

13. But he DOES use political interests to manipulate the voting public

And when that starts failing, he manipulates the way elections are conducted.

[bronxiteforever]

10. The GOP wants Americans and millions of Americans yet unborn

to suffer and beg for health and scientific advances from other countries. They aren’t making America great. The GOP is making America a weak loser.

[hay rick]

11. In recent years, American institutions maintained lofty rankings in large part by attracting top foreign students.

Trump's war on visas and immigration will destroy that pipeline. In any objective international ranking system, American institutions are poised for a nosedive.

[LiberalArkie]

12. But in 1956:

11/18/1956: “We will take America without firing a shot. We do not have to invade the US. We will destroy you from within.”
Nikita Khrushchev

[Attilatheblond]

15. All it took was some financial help for a mentally ill 'businessmen' and probably some young honey pots + videos

[progressoid]

14. But what about drag queens in our libraries!@!11!