"After all, it's not politicians who fed the world, it was Haber & Bosch. It wasn't environmentalists who saved whales from extinction, it was whoever invented

"After all, it's not politicians who fed the world, it was Haber & Bosch. It wasn't environmentalists who saved whales from extinction, it was whoever invented that synthetic whale-oil substitute" The politics vs technologists is a false dichotomy. I dont know specifically about Haber and Bosch, but a lot of researchers get their funding from the government. SV would not be what it is today without government funding. Not specific to your comment, but I feel like the whole 'how can we make the world better' discussion has become 'our side is better at it'. Who cares who's better, what can we/I do?