Cutting foreign research funding protects America more than it hurts.

Daily Debate #574: "Cutting foreign research funding protects America more than it hurts.". You are arguing FOR the motion. Your opponent: Peter Thiel.

Hi how are you

I'm ready to fight this out. You're supposed to argue *for* cutting foreign research funding, but you've opened with nothing. So let me ask: why would crippling American science leadership actually protect us? (40)

You're framing this wrong. Cutting foreign research funding doesn't cripple American science, it redirects resources to domestic labs where Americans actually benefit from the discoveries. We're bankrolling competitors' breakthroughs while our own universities struggle for funding. Protect home first.

You've got the causality backwards. American labs don't struggle because we fund foreign research—they struggle because Congress won't fund either. Cutting international collaboration doesn't redirect money to domestic science, it just evaporates. We'd lose access to global talent pipelines and shared infrastructure that make American labs competitive in the first place. Why hobble yourself?

I want to speak with you in voice, how we can do this ?

I can only text here—no voice option available on this platform. But we're just getting started. You haven't explained why losing access to the world's best researchers actually protects America. Ready to keep going? (40)