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> So... they only fund science because they care about how investment in science improves our lives? I'm not sure how you arrived at that conclusion from what

> So... they only fund science because they care about how investment in science improves our lives? I'm not sure how you arrived at that conclusion from what I wrote. I wrote the opposite. Many Republicans are seemingly interested in funding NASA only because of misunderstood economics and logical fallacies. Perhaps you arrived at the conclusion you did by thinking that by default, job creation and decisions based on expected economic outcome are things that "improve our lives"? But that simply isn't true. Jobs for the sake of jobs makes no sense and creates massive waste and inefficiencies in the world. Republicans chanting "jobs jobs jobs!" are hurting their constituents, not helping them. This is especially true of the current batch of Republican politicians in power, who chanted about bring back the dying and polluting coal jobs for years and years. Those jobs and policies are not helping the people they claim to be. Back to NASA. Sure, if someone gets a job that helps them out. But the policies in place are not meant to help that person. The policies in place are meant to entrench the Republican in power, for better or worse, and are not made while considering the actual well being of the people who live there. This is evidenced more clearly in other policies, that keep the poor poor and the uneducated uneducated. The policies implemented by Republican politicians in the name of "jobs" are rarely good for the people who live there.

deleted 9y ago
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Consultant32452 9y ago
Being at the forefront of science and technology is what helps to maintain our position as a/the global financial leader. This is what Republicans understand and care about and why science is funded. Of course that's also viewed through the lens of wanting to make sure some of that funding happens in their own districts. FWIW, the crazy "omnibus" spending bill that just passed by a Republican Congress included a $2 Billion increase to NIH and $1.3 Billion increase to NASA.
- jacobsheehy 9y ago
  > Being at the forefront of science and technology is what helps to maintain our position as a/the global financial leader. This is what Republicans understand and care about and why science is funded. Your post here specifically states that Republicans care about being #1 in the world financially, and you imply here it is not about helping their constituents live good lives or anything like that. The Republican apparatus here is specifically an attempt at a short-term money-making one, not one that improves lives or even makes money in the long run. If you are right and Republicans are funding science because they want the US to be the global financial leader, that is massively fucked up and massively wrong. It will also backfire, because funding things for the reason of being a leader is like making a startup to try to become a billionaire. It will fail. You must work on the core things like basic science, quality of life, etc, to improve the country's stability and economics across the board.
  - Consultant32452 9y ago
    You're seriously straw-manning here. You can remove the chip from your shoulder any time. They want their constituents to have good jobs. In order to do that they must support the sciences so that our economy can grow.

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Consultant32452 9y ago

Being at the forefront of science and technology is what helps to maintain our position as a/the global financial leader. This is what Republicans understand and care about and why science is funded. Of course that's also viewed through the lens of wanting to make sure some of that funding happens in their own districts. FWIW, the crazy "omnibus" spending bill that just passed by a Republican Congress included a $2 Billion increase to NIH and $1.3 Billion increase to NASA.

jacobsheehy 9y ago
> Being at the forefront of science and technology is what helps to maintain our position as a/the global financial leader. This is what Republicans understand and care about and why science is funded. Your post here specifically states that Republicans care about being #1 in the world financially, and you imply here it is not about helping their constituents live good lives or anything like that. The Republican apparatus here is specifically an attempt at a short-term money-making one, not one that improves lives or even makes money in the long run. If you are right and Republicans are funding science because they want the US to be the global financial leader, that is massively fucked up and massively wrong. It will also backfire, because funding things for the reason of being a leader is like making a startup to try to become a billionaire. It will fail. You must work on the core things like basic science, quality of life, etc, to improve the country's stability and economics across the board.
- Consultant32452 9y ago
  You're seriously straw-manning here. You can remove the chip from your shoulder any time. They want their constituents to have good jobs. In order to do that they must support the sciences so that our economy can grow.