URL:
http://lfw.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ARCHI&ARTICLE_ID=26152&VERSION_NUM=1&p=12

Ethics of government funding ignored 

I was happy to read the editorial in the June issue "Should governments 
fund research?" For too long I have read and been sickened by the 
Washington Report section of Laser Focus World. The thrust of the report 
is how the United States government, via taxation, forces people to fund 
the photonics industry. While Terence Kealy [in The Economic Laws of 
Scientific Research, St. Martin`s Press, NY, NY, 1996] has arguably showed 
that government funding of research does more harm than good economically, 
I believe the ethical component of the funding has been vastly ignored. 

The ethical component of this issue comes out when one looks at the people 
involved. After all, governments consist of people, people create wealth 
for funding, and people do research. Asking if governments should fund 
research is asking if our elected representatives can legally compel 
United States citizens to financially support scientific researchers. 

From my experience in the photonics industry, practicing "The Seven Habits 
of Highly Effective People" is common and respected. Yet, I can hardly see 
the "win-win" aspect of forcing others to fund research projects. I could 
not bring myself to force others to fund my livelihood. Such theft is 
illegal, yet it is legal for many people to appoint someone to do their 
dirty work, that is, to elect representatives to appropriate their needed 
funds. Still, I do not choose to live that way, as I would have to accept 
that everyone else could force me to fund their projects. I choose the 
"win-win" relationships of the free market and voluntary charities over 
the "win-lose" and inevitably "lose-lose" relationships of the welfare 
state and mandatory government charities. 

Brian T. Schwartz 

Santa Clara, CA

Laser Focus World August, 1998