Whenever there is a debate in politics or public opinion about the low percentage of the budget that different governments have allocated to education and science, the magic question appears: “What developed country does not invest in science and technology? ”.
But Argentina is not a developed country, although it could have been until governments squandered resources and demolished institutions.
Today, the State does not have enough money to provide quality public goods in such essential areas as health, education and security.
Developed countries, which have a solid and competitive productive base that generates abundant funds, do not serve as an example.
This productive base rests on institutions that provide legal security and where the diversion of funds, mischief, corruption and impunity are intolerable.
When a country falls into a pit due to misgovernment, as is happening to Argentina, the only way to fight to defend science is to recreate the institutions, recover the currency, attract investment and exercise true sovereignty, without cheap or extremist ideologies and without going begging around the world.
In the current context, science is defended more with economic measures and changes in cultural paradigms than by marching or taking strikes.
Most Argentine scientists and researchers have talent and a genuine desire to dedicate themselves to their vocation;
Usually far from political militancy, they prefer to dedicate their hours to formulating hypotheses and verifying them in laboratories or field work.
CONICET, for example, must be subject to the same scrutiny that Argentines subject each of their expenses and the effort of each family member to contribute to the well-being of the whole.
The budgets allocated to its financing and that of other organizations and agencies of the science and technology system must be evaluated taking into account the other priorities of the State, taking into account that Argentina is, today, a poor country.
We like to have it all at once: the advantages without the disadvantages.
Perhaps this explains why we are so slow in the global concert.
This is what happens in other areas of society where there is no progress that does not entail some limitation: the fight against climate change forces us to change the way we consume;
women's equality diminishes men's opportunities;
Any redistribution policy implies, at least initially, that someone loses.
There will only be positive social changes and we will overcome the crises that threaten us if we limit ourselves, whether in the form of renunciation or acceptance of certain prohibitions.
When decisions are made with a short-term vision, when decision cycles are too short, the rationality of the agents is necessarily short-sighted.
To advance in political, economic and social development, our country needs to promote and integrate in a balanced manner the agriculture, petrochemical, agri-food, automotive, metalworking, mining and maritime coastal wealth industries, as well as achieve energy self-sufficiency. adding renewable energies to fossil fuels.
Whoever wants to do something great, Goethe said, must be able to limit himself.
Not only because we can't achieve everything at once, but because anything important involves some kind of renunciation.
This is true on an individual level and also on a collective level.
Norma Cadoppi Frigerio is president of the Strategic Forum for National Development.