5 ms·

We should stop spending so much money on defense as a world, and more on health, beneficial applications of scientific progress, and improving global well-being

We should stop spending so much money on defense as a world, and more on health, beneficial applications of scientific progress, and improving global well-being... Arms races are stupid and a waste of human talent. /rant

ams6110 9y ago
Indeed. Now just get all the militant and megalomanical dictators to agree.
- neaden 9y ago
  The US currently has the largest military in the entire world by a huge amount, almost three times that of China. The US could begin to reign in military spending without being vulnerable.
nickthemagicman 9y ago
Can't agree more. There's members of our species that are extremely messed up and they ruin it for the rest of us.
- pixl97 9y ago
  Our species? By that you mean everything that uses DNA right? Violence is just one part of our toolkit.
JumpCrisscross 9y ago
> Arms races are stupid and a waste of human talent Arms races are how we got meritocracy [1], NASA, the ARPANET and other goodies. Our species has a terrible track record with non-hedonistically deploying capital without the motivation of an external threat. In that mold, a Cold War (emphasis on "cold") is a least-worst optimum. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jena–Auerstedt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jena–Auerstedt EDIT: Better source https://books.google.com/books?id=z14AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA220&lpg=PA220&dq=battle+of+jena+reform&source=bl&ots=FRoOuJMWso&sig=21Xg2pkLyIGJHmMBsx7IY7F8xGs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-nY6-4rfZAhVhmuAKHUbNBTw4FBDoAQgsMAE#v=onepage&q=battle%20of%20jena%20reform&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=z14AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA220&lpg=...
- dashundchen 9y ago
  Well, if by cold you mean cold for those at home in the aggressor countries. Not so cold for the countries ravaged in proxy wars, forced regime changes and even those drafted and destroyed from the "cold" nation conflicts.
- yesenadam 9y ago
  I clicked on the link.. Napoleon going around Europe slaughtering is somehow "how we got meritocracy" and a "goodie"? Um. I don't see it. (I'm not an expert in these areas.)
  - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
    > Napoleon going around Europe slaughtering is somehow "how we got meritocracy" and a "goodie"? Pardon me, a quote from a better source: "Prussia, notwithstanding the reforms of Frederick the Great, had retained its half-feudal institutions down to the decisive defat of Jena. The agricultural classes were serfs bound to the soil and compelled to work a certain part of each week for their lords with our remeration. The population was still divided into three distinct castes, nobles, burghers, and peasants, who could not acquire one another's land. The disaster of Jena and the losses at Tilsit convinced the statesmen of Prussia–among whom Baron von Stein and Prince Hardenberg were conspicuous–that the country's only hope of recovery was a complete social and political revolution not unlike that which had taken place in France. They saw that the old system must be abolished, the peasants freed, and the restrictions which hedged about the different classes done away with, before it would be possible to arouse public spirit to a point where a great popular uprising might expel the intruder forever." Beard and Harvey, James Robinson. Outlines of European History. Ginn & Company, 1907. https://books.google.com/books?id=z14AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA220&lpg=PA220&dq=battle+of+jena+reform&source=bl&ots=FRoOuJMWso&sig=21Xg2pkLyIGJHmMBsx7IY7F8xGs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-nY6-4rfZAhVhmuAKHUbNBTw4FBDoAQgsMAE#v=onepage&q=battle%20of%20jena%20reform&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=z14AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA220&lpg=...

ams6110 9y ago

Indeed. Now just get all the militant and megalomanical dictators to agree.

neaden 9y ago
The US currently has the largest military in the entire world by a huge amount, almost three times that of China. The US could begin to reign in military spending without being vulnerable.

nickthemagicman 9y ago

Can't agree more. There's members of our species that are extremely messed up and they ruin it for the rest of us.

pixl97 9y ago
Our species? By that you mean everything that uses DNA right? Violence is just one part of our toolkit.

JumpCrisscross 9y ago

> Arms races are stupid and a waste of human talent Arms races are how we got meritocracy [1], NASA, the ARPANET and other goodies. Our species has a terrible track record with non-hedonistically deploying capital without the motivation of an external threat. In that mold, a Cold War (emphasis on "cold") is a least-worst optimum. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jena–Auerstedt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jena–Auerstedt EDIT: Better source https://books.google.com/books?id=z14AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA220&lpg=PA220&dq=battle+of+jena+reform&source=bl&ots=FRoOuJMWso&sig=21Xg2pkLyIGJHmMBsx7IY7F8xGs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-nY6-4rfZAhVhmuAKHUbNBTw4FBDoAQgsMAE#v=onepage&q=battle%20of%20jena%20reform&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=z14AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA220&lpg=...

dashundchen 9y ago
Well, if by cold you mean cold for those at home in the aggressor countries. Not so cold for the countries ravaged in proxy wars, forced regime changes and even those drafted and destroyed from the "cold" nation conflicts.
yesenadam 9y ago
I clicked on the link.. Napoleon going around Europe slaughtering is somehow "how we got meritocracy" and a "goodie"? Um. I don't see it. (I'm not an expert in these areas.)
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago
  > Napoleon going around Europe slaughtering is somehow "how we got meritocracy" and a "goodie"? Pardon me, a quote from a better source: "Prussia, notwithstanding the reforms of Frederick the Great, had retained its half-feudal institutions down to the decisive defat of Jena. The agricultural classes were serfs bound to the soil and compelled to work a certain part of each week for their lords with our remeration. The population was still divided into three distinct castes, nobles, burghers, and peasants, who could not acquire one another's land. The disaster of Jena and the losses at Tilsit convinced the statesmen of Prussia–among whom Baron von Stein and Prince Hardenberg were conspicuous–that the country's only hope of recovery was a complete social and political revolution not unlike that which had taken place in France. They saw that the old system must be abolished, the peasants freed, and the restrictions which hedged about the different classes done away with, before it would be possible to arouse public spirit to a point where a great popular uprising might expel the intruder forever." Beard and Harvey, James Robinson. Outlines of European History. Ginn & Company, 1907. https://books.google.com/books?id=z14AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA220&lpg=PA220&dq=battle+of+jena+reform&source=bl&ots=FRoOuJMWso&sig=21Xg2pkLyIGJHmMBsx7IY7F8xGs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-nY6-4rfZAhVhmuAKHUbNBTw4FBDoAQgsMAE#v=onepage&q=battle%20of%20jena%20reform&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=z14AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA220&lpg=...