By what measure are US universities evaluated to be “best” at research? It’s a bold claim to make.
Why the United States has the best research universities
141–150 of 262 posts
Re: Why the United States has the best research universities
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this is also the explanation for American success in the 20th century. The United States as we know it is, like all empires, built on the spoils of war. The United States was able to capture the best and brightest scientists. These people were brought into a system whose structure and demands were dictated by the needs of a growing government and military. This is the fuel that drove American exceptionalism.
> built on the spoils of war Negative, you may have confused the US with Rome. The US is the beneficiary of tremendous natural resources, temperate climate across a vast geography, natural isolation from external threats, and mostly very stable governmental structures.
Those natural resources were acquired by conquering and displacing the original inhabitants.
Re: Why the United States has the best research universities
#143Because WWI and Nazi Germany drove the best scientists from Europe to the US?
It's been 80 years. No other great scientists were born in Europe in the past 80 years?
Yes, and then they too moved to the US to study or work.
Look at any top US university’s STEM faculty? What percentage are native born? It is shockingly low.
Re: Why the United States has the best research universities
#144So, the ascent of U.S. universities to high status on a worldwide scale, happened in the first half of the 20th century really. Why? Well, because Europe was tearing itself apart in two world wars, and the U.S. sat out the first half of both of those, while receiving a lot of talent fleeing those wars. If you have the money, and the former top-of-the-heap has bombed their wealth into rubble, it doesn't require any ma…
It wasn't just the U.S. receiving that talent. Latin America, particularly Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile also saw 10s of millions of European immigrants.[1] Germans, Italians, Jews, Poles, etc, as well as Japanese and Chinese. Canada and Australia also saw significant migration. So the mere fact of the emigration of European talent doesn't quite answer the question. The role of European conflict driving emigra…
You might be interested by Operation Paperclip [0].
The US was actively looking for key scientific talent in then devastated Germany to bring back home after World War II.
This concentration of talent, coupled with intense investments in fundamental research during the Cold War and better living conditions for scientists made it an obvious choice for any academic to relocate to the United States.
Even today, the US immigration system still has a preference for foreigners who can meaningfully contribute to the advancement of science.
Re: Why the United States has the best research universities
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
> built on the spoils of war Negative, you may have confused the US with Rome. The US is the beneficiary of tremendous natural resources, temperate climate across a vast geography, natural isolation from external threats, and mostly very stable governmental structures.
Those natural resources were acquired by conquering and displacing the original inhabitants.
That's a statement that applies to nearly every society ever. What's the point of saying it? The post you're replying to is talking about a unique distinction in how 2 societies maintained power.
Re: Why the United States has the best research universities
#146So, the ascent of U.S. universities to high status on a worldwide scale, happened in the first half of the 20th century really. Why? Well, because Europe was tearing itself apart in two world wars, and the U.S. sat out the first half of both of those, while receiving a lot of talent fleeing those wars. If you have the money, and the former top-of-the-heap has bombed their wealth into rubble, it doesn't require any ma…
It wasn't just the U.S. receiving that talent. Latin America, particularly Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile also saw 10s of millions of European immigrants.[1] Germans, Italians, Jews, Poles, etc, as well as Japanese and Chinese. Canada and Australia also saw significant migration. So the mere fact of the emigration of European talent doesn't quite answer the question. The role of European conflict driving emigra…
I don't have any sources to back this up, but it seems to me that you highlight this fact yourself in your argument. The US had the stability, the institutions and finances to enable the emigres talent to do the work instead of (in the extreme example) of fleeting for their lives.
Re: Why the United States has the best research universities
#147So, the ascent of U.S. universities to high status on a worldwide scale, happened in the first half of the 20th century really. Why? Well, because Europe was tearing itself apart in two world wars, and the U.S. sat out the first half of both of those, while receiving a lot of talent fleeing those wars. If you have the money, and the former top-of-the-heap has bombed their wealth into rubble, it doesn't require any ma…
I think this is also the explanation for American success in the 20th century. The United States as we know it is, like all empires, built on the spoils of war. The United States was able to capture the best and brightest scientists. These people were brought into a system whose structure and demands were dictated by the needs of a growing government and military. This is the fuel that drove American exceptionalism.
What drove American exceptionalism in the 20th century was still largely what drove its exceptionalism in the 19th and earlier centuries: chattel slavery and black exploitation. Slavery wasn't phased out immediately after the emancipation proclamation. 1) Slavery was still legal in the north after that signing and 2) states and counties did not enforce the law consistently (e.g. Juneteenth), and 3) criminal justice system was used to enslave black people for free prison labor not too unlike today. Of course later in the 20th century there was Jim Crow and Redlining to come which suppressed and continued the extraction of Blacks for whites to enrich themselves and their nation.
https://www.npr.org/2013/01/09/168957092/what-the-emancipati...
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=890511...
https://www.livescience.com/61886-modern-slavery-united-stat...
Re: Why the United States has the best research universities
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this is also the explanation for American success in the 20th century. The United States as we know it is, like all empires, built on the spoils of war. The United States was able to capture the best and brightest scientists. These people were brought into a system whose structure and demands were dictated by the needs of a growing government and military. This is the fuel that drove American exceptionalism.
> built on the spoils of war Negative, you may have confused the US with Rome. The US is the beneficiary of tremendous natural resources, temperate climate across a vast geography, natural isolation from external threats, and mostly very stable governmental structures.
Oh oh oh I have one: a peculiar form of chattel slavery considered more brutal and unforgiving than that of Rome.
Re: Why the United States has the best research universities
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this is also the explanation for American success in the 20th century. The United States as we know it is, like all empires, built on the spoils of war. The United States was able to capture the best and brightest scientists. These people were brought into a system whose structure and demands were dictated by the needs of a growing government and military. This is the fuel that drove American exceptionalism.
> built on the spoils of war Negative, you may have confused the US with Rome. The US is the beneficiary of tremendous natural resources, temperate climate across a vast geography, natural isolation from external threats, and mostly very stable governmental structures.
Those "tremendous natural resources" were all the result of the Indian wars. America was at war nearly constantly expanding its empire from 1775-1865.
Surely you didn't think north America was terra nullis or that the natives just willingly gave away all those natural resources to European colonists?
Anglo-Powhatan Wars (3 separate wars), Pequot War, Kieft's War, Peach Tree War, Esopus Wars, King Philip's War, Tuscarora War, Yamasee War, Dummer's War, Pontiac's War, Lord Dunmore's War, Cherokee-American Wars, Northwest Indian War, the Creek War, First and Second Seminole Wars, Texas-Indian Wars, Comanche-Mexico War, Cayuse War, Rogue River Wars, Yakima War, Puget Sound War, Spokane War, Snake War, Nez Perce War, Bannock War, Sheepeater Indian War, Navajo Wars, Yuma War, Mohave War, Apache Wars, Black Hawk War, Yavapai Wars, California Indian Wars, Walker War, Paiute War, Goshute War, White River War, Red Cloud's War, Colorado War, Great Sioux War, Dakota War....
And I'm sure I'm leaving a bunch out. The US is definitely built on the spoils of war.
Re: Why the United States has the best research universities
#150But does it matter if you have an extreme wealth gap, a culture of fear and violence, and a lot of people living in poverty? It's always nice to point out the things that are doing great according to some metrics, but when put in perspective, what does it end up doing for the people? It shouldn't mean that "unless it benefits blue collar workers it doesn't need to exist", but you'd expect tooting one's own national h…
Many cultures value sharing the pizza equally. American culture values making more, and bigger pizzas.