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> US military spending...provides funding for basic research Someone has to really have drank the kool-aid to even comprehend that statement, never mind believ

> US military spending...provides funding for basic research Someone has to really have drank the kool-aid to even comprehend that statement, never mind believe it. What does military spending have to do with basic research? If what you mean is that the US has a convoluted, wasteful system where workers work, get taxed, the money is sent to the Pentagon, and physicists at universities have to write out fantasy-laden grant proposals to DARPA about how their non-military basic research work has military purposes, then yes, "US military spending provides funding for basic research". This really got going in the 1970s, I recall one story of a physicist grant proposal for a basic research study into the theory of relativity being presented as research that would benefit small trajectory changes in rocket launches. You seem to have a high estimation of the idea of the rest of the world on the leash of imperial America (with the phrase imperial America being apropos for your picture). I suppose American academics doing basic research should also be subjected to domination by the Pentagon, in your view. Japan has a much less wasteful funding of research with MITI. You don't have scientists wasting time writing bogus grant proposals for basic research being reviewed by people sitting at desks in the Department of Defense.

achou 8y ago
Actually, I agree with you that this is kind of how it works. My point is simply this: the headline number for "military spend" includes a great deal of funding for research: https://www.aaas.org/programs/r-d-budget-and-policy/historical-trends-federal-rd https://www.aaas.org/programs/r-d-budget-and-policy/historic... No, I don't believe this is a great system. On the other hand, consider that if research spending weren't under this guise, would popular support for research allow for the funding to exist at current levels, much less increased ones? Given understanding of the average American of basic science, that would be a stretch (to put it mildly). Perhaps having researchers write a few extra paragraphs in grant proposals isn't so bad after all.
cannonedhamster 8y ago
Japan has a large portion of their military spending covered by the United States. It's not a fair comparison. You would need to compare another global superpower such as USSR, Great Britain before the empire waned, Spain, etc. Most of the world's advances have been funded by military resources or wealthy private individuals. I wish it wasn't true because I personally think we'd be better served on cancer research than almost any research into better bombs, soldier exoskeletons, jet packs, etc.

achou 8y ago

Actually, I agree with you that this is kind of how it works. My point is simply this: the headline number for "military spend" includes a great deal of funding for research: https://www.aaas.org/programs/r-d-budget-and-policy/historical-trends-federal-rd https://www.aaas.org/programs/r-d-budget-and-policy/historic... No, I don't believe this is a great system. On the other hand, consider that if research spending weren't under this guise, would popular support for research allow for the funding to exist at current levels, much less increased ones? Given understanding of the average American of basic science, that would be a stretch (to put it mildly). Perhaps having researchers write a few extra paragraphs in grant proposals isn't so bad after all.

cannonedhamster 8y ago

Japan has a large portion of their military spending covered by the United States. It's not a fair comparison. You would need to compare another global superpower such as USSR, Great Britain before the empire waned, Spain, etc. Most of the world's advances have been funded by military resources or wealthy private individuals. I wish it wasn't true because I personally think we'd be better served on cancer research than almost any research into better bombs, soldier exoskeletons, jet packs, etc.