The United States is No Longer a Government “Of the People”

Businessmen, career politicians, and lawyers are incapable of effectively representing the interests of all Americans.

In the 2016 election cycle, millions of Americans elected a president who had never before held public office, believing they had “rejected the political establishment.” While the underlying idea of this perspective has its merits, there is now a group even less represented, and more desperately needed, in the government than businessmen: scientists and physicians.

In 2011, eight out of China’s nine top government officials held a degree in the sciences, medicine or engineering, and although the proportion has since gone down, it still makes the U.S. pale in comparison. Of our current 535 members of Congress, only 29 are scientists or physicians. 

President Trump recently sparked controversy by nominating a non-scientist Sam Clovis, to head science at the USDA. Meanwhile, the current President of China, Xi Jinping, is a former chemical engineer (as is, incidentally, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany). Unsurprisingly, China continues to outperform the U.S. in research investment, new patents granted, advancements in supercomputing, space expedition, clean energy and even healthcare in some ways. China is currently building highly efficient, meltdown-proof nuclear reactors based off a design from the U.S. which we abruptly abandoned over 60 years ago — not because of any design failure, but because no one in our government understood how it worked.

Don’t get me wrong, China is no “City on a Hill” when it comes to personal liberties. But in the areas of daily life where the government should have a legitimate role, which include research and health policy, China is running laps around us. Despite having a population that comprises 20% of the world, China accounts for only five percent of global health expenditure and can still offer basic comprehensive care for everyone and private care (often superior to the average in the U.S.) for those who can afford it.