Through a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation (a taxpayer-funded organization), the University of Oregon conducted a study examining, “The feminist glaciology framework (that) generates robust analysis of gender, power, and epistemologies in dynamic social-ecological systems, thereby leading to more just and equitable science and human-ice interactions.” No wonder why so many Americans are angry with the Federal government.
The authors define Feminist glaciology as a study that “asks how knowledge related to glaciers is produced, circulated, and gains credibility and authority across time and space. It simultaneously brings to the forefront glacier knowledge that has been marginalized or deemed ‘outside’ of traditional glaciology.”
Its purpose is therefore to recognize the parallels between gender and glacier discrimination because scientific research, “stems from information produced by men, about men, with manly characteristics, and within masculinist discourses.”
The University of Oregon issued a statement about the research that said, “The long-running reliance on knowledge produced from the perspectives of natural science, the researchers concluded, have marginalized the voices of women and cultures around the world that have lived in the shadow of glaciers.”
Although the report does offer valuable findings like, “flooding from a glacial lake with an increase of sexually transmitted infections in women,” they are overshadowed by attacks on sex, capitalism, and marginalization.
Taxpayers should not be forced to provide money for programs that do not further the progress of American citizens. While the U.S. in 2016 is estimated to sit on a $544 billion deficit, a $14 trillion public debt, and a gross federal debt today of about $19,152,873,294,000, the U.S. cannot continually waste money. By the end of FY2016, total government debt in the U.S., including federal, state, and local debts, is estimated to be $22.4 trillion.
As a nation, we can no longer afford to ignore these numbers. They continue to significantly increase daily, and legislators need to think more about decreasing spending rather than increasing instability for citizens.