Paying twice for what should be free

Every week I seem to find articles that were buried off of the front page for some reason or another. More often than not these articles detail situations or events that either demonstrate the inefficacy of the government and/or the complete ineptitude of those we call ‘public servants’. Why these articles are buried is obvious. Why they are written in the first place is not. There is an underbelly, probably larger in number than anyone would think, of people who see what is happening. Who see how the reigns are being placed on the collective nozzle of our people. Who see how those who are supposed to be said ‘public servants’ are actually simple pawns in the chess game that is maintaining power in the ‘right’ hands.

This is not a conspiracy, this is how the world works. Understanding this is only going to make you more capable of dealing with it.

The article that I found was originally published in Berkeley, CA. At least those hippies are good for something other than dreads and tie-dyed recreations of Che and Bob. Written by Dr. Michael B. Eisen, who got a PhD from Harvard and now runs the Eisen Lab (AKA the Howard Hughes Medical Institute) at the University of California, Berkeley, this article has a unique point of view stemming from the vacuous confines of a laboratory, as opposed to that of a downtrodden office, or a coffee shop.

One of the major points that this piece illustrates is that of the monumental amount of research that is carried out each year in the scientific community using mostly taxpayer money. Because we pay for it, we should be able to see it, right? It should be public property akin to a park or a waterfront walkway. Yet a particularly insidious bill introduced by the House last week, titled the Research Works Act, threatens to shut down the means through which this can be accomplished. Instead of free access to something they’ve already paid for those who wish to see the results of this scientific research now will have to pay, per use, somewhere between $15 and $30. Here’s an excerpt from Eisen’s page at UCB:

My lab studies how the genomic sequences that control gene expression function and evolve. We are driven by a desire to understand the molecular basis of organismal diversity, and the belief that many differences in physiology, morphology and behavior arise from changes in gene regulation. Our ultimate goal is to be able to interpret the regulatory information encoded in genomic DNA, so that we can routinely identify regulatory sequences, discern their function, predict the consequences of their perturbation, and reconstruct how they evolved.

Now I am obviously no mathematical genius nor am I a world-renowned scientist. But even I can tell that this type of research is really f***ing important. The simple fact that there are mechanisms at play that want to restrict how much access and exposure we get to the results of scientific endeavors such as this should only make you want to see it more.

The real question becomes just why it is that research, the epitome of the human struggle for understanding, is even considered as a potential source of revenue, even under the auspices of that ever honorable practice of double-taxation. In writing this Eisen has demonstrated not only the types of processes that inevitably occur in a purely predatory economic situation* but also the means through which these practices are perpetuated, i.e. the smothering of the article to the back page of the website on which it is published. I maintain doubts as to whether his article would be more effective on the front page of a major newspaper, yet the effort to contain its message still remains clear.

What we face is nozzle for our brains. What we face is the inevitable dulling down of an entire system designed to keep us complacent. A system designed not to protect and engender that which is most beneficial for us as a species and thus, for us, but rather to make as much money as possible.

What we face is a double-taxation for the processes that are supposed to be the inherent processes of human evolution; paying double for the right to progress as a species. Now, one would think that research such as Eisen’s would be above the petty squabbling over money in view of the ultimate goal: knowledge. Yet this is not the case. The monetary interests that dictate the actions, and thus legislation, carried out by our ‘public servants’, are simply too strong. Thus, we see articles like those written by Eisen in the dregs of the internet or, as I like to call it, the underbelly of the internet.

Considering how amazingly irresponsible our mis-representatives are being in regards to this bill, maybe it’s time for a little indigestion.

*I am not denouncing capitalism. I am denouncing every just about every human that has ever held money in his/her hand.

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