[akiselev]

There is a lot of politics in the process of funding science and I would argue the system is quite broken, but it still operates within the scientific community. There may be a new class of hybrid scientists-bureaucrats (aka professors) that have a strong grasp on research direction but they are still scientists. Each individual may have their biases but the sum of all of the scientists is made up of so many different people that the only common link between is their belief in the scientific method and this collective ultimately guides its progress.

Also, I have to nit pick, science is by no means an expensive human endeavor. The net global societal benefit per dollar spent, even with all of the added bureaucracy and other overhead, far outweighs other spending, maybe even spending on education. The problem is that science is long term, something few seem to have the stomach for.