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Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

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280 points dargscisyhp | 3 comments | 02 Aug 25 06:28 UTC | HN request time: 0.783s | source
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francasso ◴[02 Aug 25 09:09 UTC] No.44765919[source]▶
Maybe it's time to move to Europe or China
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numbers_guy ◴[02 Aug 25 09:18 UTC] No.44765967[source]▶
There is nowhere to run and hide. Europe is worse than the US on this front. China also demands party loyalty. In a sense this is just the human condition. The ruling faction demands loyalty. Only a very advanced human civilization could move past that and allow criticism of the ruling class. Maybe the US had achieved that for a brief movement in the past or maybe it was just an illusion.

EDIT: For people wondering why I think it's worse in Europe, it's because in Europe the ruling class and the universities are on the same side. And when I say Europe, I mean UK, France and Germany.

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A_D_E_P_T ◴[02 Aug 25 09:42 UTC] No.44766094[source]▶
I'm in Europe. It's not even close to being worse than the US on that front. Places like the Fraunhofer Institute and the Max Planck Institute are perpetually well-funded, and are largely unaffected by politics. Good places to do research.
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FirmwareBurner ◴[02 Aug 25 09:56 UTC] No.44766184[source]▶
>Fraunhofer Institute and the Max Planck Institute are perpetually well-funded, and are largely unaffected by politics

Oh, so I can freely go up against the German government's policies and have my career in academia unaffected and keep my government funding?

I lived in Germany and don't remember people or organisations ever being able to break government rules with no consequences (unless they had high friends in politics).

Something smells here.

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enaaem ◴[02 Aug 25 10:40 UTC] No.44766441[source]▶
Funny thing is that UCLA is getting defunded because some people there were criticising a FOREIGN government.
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1. FirmwareBurner ◴[02 Aug 25 10:42 UTC] No.44766452[source]▶
Go work in German academia and criticize the FOREIGN government of Israel.

I'm sure the German government will react with much more leniency than the US.

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2. enaaem ◴[02 Aug 25 11:20 UTC] No.44766664[source]▶
Note that you are affected by OTHER people's opinion on a foreign nation.
3. ben_w ◴[02 Aug 25 12:18 UTC] No.44766987[source]▶
In this case, the analogy should be "Go work in German academia *where the students* criticize the FOREIGN government of Israel."

AFAICT, no German academic institutions have lost funding as a result of the student's protests. Those protests were stopped, police action etc., but no funding change to the academic institutions.