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.
this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2026
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Is any scientist seriously considering moving to the US right now? ๐คจ
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.
It's almost like the slogan should've been Make China Great Again lmao
US post WW2 boom is over and they squandered it.
We have been running on old money for decades. We used China for our slave labor, and now they make the best stuff and don't need us. That's why the US is 70% service industry now. We are basically two rich trust fund babies jerking ourselves from off surrounded by slave labor, but eventually we run out of money. We are at the running out of money phase
The US still holds the reserve currency, that they force other countries to use via military force. Which allows them to export their inflation, and to print money to build up the military they use to protect its usage.
I think the problem is the population got too heavy into taking in debt via this mechanism, always asking for more and more tax cuts and more social programs, and China themselves stopped buying US treasuries in 2016. Then locking Russia out of US bonds further exacerbated the issue, as its no longer seen as a neutral asset, so bond yields rise as less people buy them.
Then the tariffs and higher interest rates cause debt crisis in other countries by limiting their access to USD, which makes them attempt to move away, which is likely how gold prices nearly doubled in a single year. Its pretty wild whats happening.
Where are these social programs?
The US federal government is a well armed pension fund.
Well technically social security is a social program, as it medicare, given they are funded by debt. Those are the vast majority.
This is exactly what is happening with gold. Everyone dumping usd for gold right now
Yeah but this is round two: science boogaloo. We have a government actively hostile to science and research, throwing away where we still had a leading position.
In particular, weโre reversing the brain drain from China. If theyโre becoming slightly less repressive and welcome science while weโre cutting research, cutting legal immigration, driving cuts by racism and judging research by whether the ai classifies it as โwokeโ, too many researchers who would have come here may no longer feel welcome
Yes, that little bump the Americans got after the 1940s because of some, er... "immigrants" has long since run out.
Let's call it a prolonged international exchange program.
This is part of why I am (slowly) learning Mandarin.
I'm so tempted to, tbh. I wonder how hard it'd be to go from joyou Kanji to hanzi.
I can read probably 1000ish kanji (maybe more), and some are super easy. Others are less so ๆผข -> ๆฑ is .... what?
I have a feeling I'll have to learn traditional and simplified at the same time and that feels a bit daunting. ๐
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"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.
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.ยฎ
The US paid the best and brightest foreigners to teach in American colleges.
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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.
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
but also stagnate
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