this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2026
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[–] OctopusNemeses@lemmy.world 33 points 1 day ago (3 children)

The damage is done. Unless there's a sudden reversal of cultural attitudes, the US has given up. The only way I see this happening is if the space race sparks another push for STEM.

Like, actual STEM. It seems like nobody has noticed but all anybody has cared about anymore is watching the stock market go up. It's no longer about the pursuit of science and technology but how that can be used to make money.

They need to land some people on the moon again. Make it a big deal about sci-fi type shit. Orbit space stations around the Earth and the moon. Make it a daily life kind of thing that the population can get engaged with.

It's apparent that people are weary of technology anymore cause all we've had is brain rot designed to extract value from us. People need to see science and technology as something hopeful again.

[–] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)

With the price of tuition now a days, and an already poor education system as it were, I don't think the US is getting back to anything.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

the tuition is one of the least problems, the job field prior to AI, pandemic was pretty bad for stem as it is. and its badly gatekeeped for research. they go to great lengths to avoid hiring domestic applicants.

[–] lordbritishbusiness@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Only reason for an education seems to be to join a tech company. I have a hunch that too much IT has sapped all other sectors of the best graduates, hence why everything else is so understaffed and expensive.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

it seem everyone was getting into tech like 10 years ago, it might finally be bursting? but i dont think they will have severe lack of jobs, like stem would right now or even 10 years ago. biotech has been kept small as far as the job pool goes, but the field seems to have shortages in those areas, maybe they figured out they dont want to compete with scientists salaries so they gatekeep BS/MS graduates.

the only stem that is doing really well is bio> to nursing degree, or some health related same kind of demand, buts its extremely skewed towards 1 demographic.

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The only way I see this happening is if the space race sparks another push for STEM.

A major reason the space race resulted in US technological superiority was because they didn't Gulag former Nazi scientists.

USA is very much cooked.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 1 day ago

yup, we got some of thier rocket scientists and russia got other group. we though it was a deal to get Japanese bioweapon scientists but turned out it wash just pseudoscience or very objective experimentations.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Stem jobs are noticeably stagnant as far as they way they hire especially how much bs they pull to keep people form applying online. more often than not your application will never seen by a person, especially with AI in the mix now. even before AI they had software to just randomly screen people anyways. ghost jobs, fake listings in order to have an excuse they cant find anyone, or had hire one with extremely specific skills that they had int he company(like you cant even get those experience in a normal university)

[–] BillCheddar@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago

Not just in science. In everything.

America is being lapped by a fascist Pooh Bear because 30% of Americans are mouthbreathers with Bible kinks.

[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The people who control capital and the levers of power in the west no longer care about the primacy of the United States in any sense. It was only ever just a mechanism they used to consolidate their power by using our economic system and our military for their own ends (see: “War is a Racket”)

Now they’re pulling up the drawbridge, boarding their super yachts, the escape plans drawn up decades ago. America is left a hollow shell with only the sad remnants of broken promises left behind.

[–] mlg@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sometimes I forget one of Trump's first agendas was nuking research funding and using a keyword filter against grant submissions that had words like "trans" without conntext.

Seems like so long ago compared to an active war with Iran.

[–] NotEasyBeingGreen@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 day ago

Was that in 2017 or 2025? There's been so much terribleness that it's hard to sort out....

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago

Intelligent people aren't going to stay in a country that doesn't respect intelligence.

They'll take their knowledge elsewhere. It's in high demand in other first world countries.

[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Supremacy in most if not all fields of endeavor by 2049 is a high goal, only accelerated by American political chaos and regression to traditionalism whereupon global disillusionment leads to realignment towards the Middle Kingdom.

image

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Europe might just get back the scientists that brain drained to the US. if china stopped fuding thier results, and opening thier research to criticism, and peer review internationally it would improve thier innovation. right now its mostly controlled by the CCP.

[–] MrMakabar@slrpnk.net 15 points 1 day ago

It is not just cutting research funding, but also making migrating to the US much much harder. The US has amazing pay for the absolute top researchers, which makes it attractive for even migrants from other developed countries. However life in most other countries is better then one of the new migrant concentration camps the US is building with ICE.

Probably the Anglosphere apart from the US and then other rich developed countries will benefit fro this the most. They all have somewhat working migration systems in place to attract talent. China so far lacks that, but they probably set one up soon.

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Rested on our laurels so long they rotted out from under us

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (4 children)

I mean, in the long run, this should be inevitable. The scientific revolution was a lightning bolt that happened to strike in Europe. And all western countries inherited that head start. But in the long run, we would expect all the world to converge to a similar science, and wealth level. And if China has triple the population of the US, why wouldn't you expect them to dominate the US in raw scientists output? That should be the default condition.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

Or, to return to reality for a moment, China has invested in new technologies and education for the prupose of having new technologies and an educated population while the US has long engaged in innovation only if it will make money(while actively stifling new things if it means competition) and in dumbing down its own population so that they’re easier to control. The US exists as a machine to enrich, in the short-term, a handful of people and anything that does not work to that end is seen as a waste. No public infrastructure, no investing in science for advancement’s sake, no education poor people, no nothing.

The US has failed because of deliberate effort by itself to shoot its own feet and legs before diving head-first into an intellectual wood-chipper. It is 100% voluntary and you cannot hide behind “it must’ve been inevitable!”.

[–] Doorbook@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This read as very narrow euro centric view of the world.

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[–] liuther9@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It is in no way related to population number. I bet there is high correlation with politics

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[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

scientific revolution

You mean the rise of rationalism over religion in Europe that came out of the renaissance that only happened because they reopened trade routes and actually started paying attention to what had been going on in the islamic golden age?

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[–] PrimeMinisterKeyes@leminal.space 63 points 2 days ago (5 children)

"Is overtaking?" Sorry buddy, that point lies in the past. China dominates nearly all of the relevant future technologies and is still ramping up its investments. There's no stopping them now.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 12 points 1 day ago

China sent their best and brightest to be educated in American colleges, which American kids can't get without taking on a lifetime of student debt. Most American kids aren't rich enough to deserve to be smart.

It's okay, though, we'll need those bodies for the war. Trump is competing against Putin numbers for sacrifices. 1.2 million so far in Ukraine. Trump has some catching up to do. He wants to be able to brag to his Sociopathic Oligarch buddies at dinner at Maralago about how many soldiers have died for him, and the higher the number the better. That's how much they love him.

American students don't need college, that's for the Chinese who build our stuff. The Draft is coming for American students. They should be willing to die to protect American Freedom.®

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[–] PennyRoyal@sh.itjust.works 113 points 2 days ago (10 children)

While the states is busy overtaking Turkmenistan as Worlds Weirdest Dictatorship

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

But how many variations of “peace” prize did Turkmenistan’s “dear leader” solicit? What’s his ratio of “peace” prizes to wars started?

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[–] pjwestin@lemmy.world 56 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Who knew that taking funding for scientific research away from government institutes and universities and giving it to ketamine-addicted con men would have negative consequences.

[–] JillSteinsPuckeredAnus@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago (2 children)

it's not negative to the con men. a nation of science-averse suspicious uneducated half wits is exactly what they need to stay in power

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[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 35 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Yes, that little bump the Americans got after the 1940s because of some, er... "immigrants" has long since run out.

[–] Lucius_Sweet@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Immigrants? You have no idea what you are talking about, Von Braun is a good old American name.

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[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 74 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Already done, bruh. 10 years of Republicans tearing down everything led to this. Not a shocker.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 45 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It’s been more like 40 years of Republican rule.

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[–] rossman@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago

The US as a whole definitely, some coastal cities have advanced programs and can rival China.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago

We essentially stopped, someone needs to pick up the torch

[–] betanumerus@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is any scientist seriously considering moving to the US right now? 🤨

[–] DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

FWIW,

wp:Science policy of the second Trump administration#Reactions and consequences

By February 2025, the scale of funding in question began raising concerns of "brain drain",[5] and 75% of scientists responding to a March survey by Nature were considering leaving the country.[73]

...

By April, US scientists are reportedly looking for career opportunities abroad in greater numbers due to the administration's slashing of science funding and workforce numbers, with a 32% increase in applications for jobs abroad and a 35% increase in US-based users browsing jobs abroad,[76] with economists considering which other countries might benefit most.[77]

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

By slashing funding, 1100 funding announcements by the NCI for cancer research in 2023, 11 in 2026.

Enjoy your ass cancer, MAGA.

[–] FosterMolasses@leminal.space 4 points 1 day ago

It's almost like the slogan should've been Make China Great Again lmao

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