Lol loving the complicated answers to this question but as an American I'll tell you that I live in an ontologically evil country that only cares that you survive long enough to reach the height of your productivity. After that you can go kick rocks/suffer death by cancer (and make sure it's on your own dime). 9 times out of 10 the US will consistently pick capital over people.
And yet some of the best and most effective research about preventing and curing cancer happens in the US, and almost entirely with public funding. Reality is not so single-tracked and people aren’t nearly as homogenous and collaborative as you imply.
