The Evolution of Democracy, Episode #3 *** Fund Independent Research ***

Too much research is funded by governments. Government officials decide which research topics get public funding. Do those decisions reflect your priorities, or theirs? .

Bring competition to research.

This paper shows what independent research can accomplish if political considerations are not a determinant factor. https://correlation-canada.org/covid-excess-mortality-125-countries/. It’s conclusions are relevant to every single Canadian - no exceptions:

Paper Summary

The spatiotemporal variations in national excess all-cause mortality rates allow us to conclude that the Covid-period (2020-2023) excess all-cause mortality in the world is incompatible with a pandemic viral respiratory disease as a primary cause of death. This hypothesis, although believed to be supported by testing campaigns, should be abandoned.

[…]

We describe plausible mechanisms and argue that the three primary causes of death associated with the excess all-cause mortality during (and after) the Covid period are:

• Biological: (including psychological) stress from mandates such as lockdowns and associated socio-economic structural changes

• Non-COVID-19-vaccine: medical interventions such as mechanical ventilators and drugs (including denial of treatment with antibiotics)

• COVID-19 vaccine: injection rollouts, including repeated rollouts on the same populations.

We studied all-cause mortality in 125 countries with available all-cause mortality data by time (week or month), starting several years prior to the declared pandemic, and for up 2 to and more than three years of the Covid period (2020-2023).

SOURCES of research funding.

I asked ChatGPT to answer the following question: “What are the primary sources of research funding in Canada?”. Unfortunately, no numbers or percentages were provided:

In Canada, research funding primarily comes from several key sources:

1. Federal Government: The main federal funding agencies are collectively known as the Tri-Council, which includes:

- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC): Supports research in natural sciences and engineering².

- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC): Funds research in social sciences and humanities².

- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): Focuses on health-related research².

2. Provincial and Territorial Governments: These governments also provide funding, though to a lesser extent compared to the federal government².

3. Industry and Private Sector: Companies and private organizations often fund research, especially in areas that align with their business interests².

4. Post-Secondary Institutions: Universities and colleges contribute to research funding through their own budgets and endowments².

5. Not-for-Profit Organizations: Various foundations and non-profit organizations provide grants and funding for specific research projects².

These sources collectively support a wide range of research initiatives across different fields in Canada.

Notice that only #3 involved the private sector. If the majority of research funding is coming from government entitities, including NGOs that are known to actively lobby governments for funding, what proportion of those funds is provided with ‘strings attached’ - to be applied only to topics that align with political or institutional priorities?

Can you ever recall a time when public funding for research was a hot election topic? - one that was addressed by politicians during their election campaigns? In other words, have you ever had a say in where public research funding goes?

OPT OUT of Public Research Funding.

According to DIGITAL DIRECT DEMOCRACY, the “Digital Age” will provide ways to let every citizen take their personal decision-making out of the hands of elected and unelected strangers. Those mechanisms will put greater personal choice back into the hands of the people who matter most -YOU!

The Citizens Preference Database (CPD) could let you decide how much of your personal earnings would be allocated to research. For example, what if the CPD offered you the following choice?

FACT: Total federal funding for research in Canada amounted to $960 million in 2023. Your share as a contributing tax-payer was $106.67.

CHOICES: Two options are available to you as a Canadian citizen and federal taxpayer. Register one of the following choices in your Citizen’s Preference Database Personal Profile to receive tax deductions.

1. I choose to OPT OUT entirely from all tax obligations associated with federal government funding for research in Canada. This includes public debt funding for research and its associated costs.

2. I choose to set an annual limit of $___ in tax emissions towards federal funding of research in Canada.

Change begins with ideas.

Each OPT-OUT proposal I make under the Digital Direct Democracy paradigm is offered as a concept - an idea that can only be implemented by the commitment, resources and talents of many people who are willing to apply their abilities to the cause.

After interviewing 10,000+ IT professionals over my 36-year career as an IT recruiter and serving the staffing needs of many entrepreneurial businesses in the Information Technology sector, I know with certainty that these OPT-OUT ideas can be implemented nation-wide on a Digital Direct Democracy platform using current technologies.

What’s more, systems evolve over time. Start-ups usually begin with a single idea upon which to focus. The originators work to achieve it before expanding its scope to incorporate new, related applications.

The first OPT-OUT success will prove that the concept works.

Initial success will lead to subsequent OPT-OUT applications. Hopefully, at some future date, dozens will be available to all Canadians.

Consider this: Word processors did not exist during the typewriter era. Microsoft changed that reality through its many evolutionary software releases to make WORD and its many competitors ubiquitous today.

DIGITAL DIRECT DEMOCRACY - a platform for CHOICES

If Microsoft can offer OFFICE 365 as a cloud solution that provides hundreds of millions of end users online access to an entire suite of online productivity tools, then surely an online DDD Citizen’s Preferences Database could serve hundreds of millions of taxpayers a suite of OPT-OUT choices to reduce their tax bills and the government-imposed restrictions to their person and property rights.

I acknowledge that this DDD proposal is only at the concept stage today, but if the early developers of word processors did not follow through on their ideas, would I be typing these words for you to read today?