Why should there be an incentive for research and development? Why should there be an incentive to create art for its own sake rather than for money? Why should people study to become scientists, researchers, or engineers if they could make more money by predicting markets or investing in real estate - rather than investing their time studying to benefit society, doing research and engineering to improve other people’s lives, curing diseases, or innovating to reduce the costs of construction materials, machinery, and logistics so that food is cheaper to grow and buy?
If people pursue these fields now, it’s because they offer money or status. The only way to get into college is by buying seats or securing positions at organizations through corruption and connections rather than merit, while those with merit are left behind because they cannot reach the top. It’s a competition over how to buy a living and survive - and people aren’t wrong to behave this way. This is how the system is designed. Our means to education, production, creativity, research, and teaching are not aimed at improving society but at securing a roof over our heads, providing food and housing for our families, and owning a car. Capitalism has told us that one doesn’t deserve food, housing, clean water, air, or a healthy environment - one has to buy it. And in order to buy it, one has to compete with others to reach the top. In order to reach the top, one must abandon principles, ethics, and morals. One must not look down at those below. One must not have empathy. One must not contribute to society or community.
The only community they should have is the like-minded - those who only think of reaching the top, who are alien to the world surrounding their gated realm of wealth, privilege, and status, even as this world is what they devour to build for themselves. And those in the surrounding world are enslaved - mentally and physically - so that their bosses have time to tell others how hardworking they are, how they have won the competition of life, and how everything they have is the result of their own hard work. They claim others should earn it too, and that those who can’t don’t deserve the same level of education, health, infrastructure, security, or access to nature.
Educational institutions and research organizations exist solely for metrics and profit. The focus is on how many papers a university can publish to establish its legitimacy and how many a journal can publish to generate revenue. Quantity over quality. Academia has become pure economics - profit and returns over impact on society.
The minds of the brightest are occupied with their material conditions, so they cannot progress - and are thus portrayed as inefficient and backward.