Today, technology fills almost every aspect of our life. It makes our life convenient and effective. While I agree scientific research is very important, I do not agree it should be controlled by the government instead of private companies.
One of the significant benefits that private companies bring is a healthy competition environment. If governments control all the scientific research institutions, the competition will not be about what kind of new ideas they have, whose formula works better, or whose underlying logic is more efficient. It will always be whose department has more power, who has a higher authority. The basic root for scientific research competition is ruined. On the contrary, private companies are invested by private investors, to survive in the business world under the same laws and rules, they need to try their best to make their product more effective, more healthy, and more profitable.
Moreover, private companies are truly following the rule: ‘the needs of many outweigh the needs of few’, and democracy is real here. The most profitable way is to satisfy customers as many as possible, which is why most scientific products are targeted the general public. To various people, capital is a negative word, it is always associated with greed. But from a certain perspective, if a company is popular among people, that means the consumers need it, its products can improve people’s life quality. By contrast, one word liked by numerous governments is national interest. I have to admit this is crucial to people of the same nationality most of the time. But how many policies hurt their people in the name of national interests? If a company did something wrong, consumers can boycott by stopping buying their products or even sue them in court. If the governments did something wrong, the unsatisfactory actions are called riots. No one can defeat a team that can be player and referee at the same time. This is not good for the development of scientific research.
In conclusion, with proper guidance and legal framework, I think scientific research will have a brighter future under the control of private companies instead of governments.