Science must be done, not just for the sake of academics and the people in labs, but for the sake of those very causes people claim it draws money away from. Ca

Science must be done, not just for the sake of academics and the people in labs, but for the sake of those very causes people claim it draws money away from. Cancer research, poverty relief, healthcare and defence [bad example] can all benefit from a good dose of science. Even if not applied to the field itself some very significant advances have come about through serendipitous discoveries when somebody was doing something else. What matters is the scientific method such that the results can be shared and reproduced. Specifically one could imagine some benefits from deep sea exploration in the south pacific could benefit each of these fields, but I'll admit that's spurious. But the point is, for political ends it is being done anyway, and while we're at it we may as well be "doing science" and getting the best out of it.