5 ms·

> lack of investment What? You’re grasping. If you want to see the problem, compare government budgets and look where all the money goes.

by jl2718 5y ago

tr_user 5y ago
They probably mean non-military investment?
- asah 5y ago
  IMHO it's complicated: US military spend includes tons of R&D, including stuff far from direct weaponry. Sure, it's a small % of the budget, but still vastly more R&D spending than most countries.
- CyberRabbi 5y ago
  >55% of the federal budget goes toward social services and welfare. <11% goes to military spending. There is no lack of investment, just obscene mismanagement, at best. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2020_US_Federal_Budget_Infographic.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2020_US_Federal_Budget_In...
  - mountainb 5y ago
    Entitlements are an 'investment' into loyalty to the federal government and the system it presides over. The military is cheap by historic standards. The entitlement system is so expensive that it stymies any significant federal policy ambition that requires resources. Our political leaders generally gave up on trying to reform entitlements in the 2000s (when it was last a TV dinner issue), so instead most just try to distract from the issue with trivia. Thinkers these days tend to be frightened about trying to come up with alternative, more cost-effective ways to secure the loyalty of the population. The default position is to just not bother shifting away from the inevitable path to failure, because letting it fail might be an easier way towards creating consensus for a solution than trying to avert the failure. If the system fails because of collective inaction, no faction can be directly blamed for the failure (so the thinking goes).
    - fidesomnes 5y ago
      This is absolutely correct. But it is not just loyalty to Feds, it is loyalty to one specific Party.
    - aidenn0 5y ago
      The US government spends a similar amount per-capita on health care as France, but provides health care for a much smaller fraction of its population. There has been a massive increase in entitlement spending since the 90s with very poor results on terms of a social safety net.
      - jl2718 5y ago
        I'd like to know what the Gini coefficient is for entitlement spending by individual adult recipient. I suspect that it would be similar to the income distribution, given so many special programs for child, medical, and disability entitlements.
        aidenn0 5y ago
        On top of that, with states cutting unemployment, a lot of people that previously would have been on unemployment are on disability now. There are a lot of perverse incentives in some of these systems.
    - camgunz 5y ago
      I feel like your comment has a serious anti-welfare-state slant to it. The US government is (well, let's stipulate anyway) a democracy. It represents the will of the people. We've decided we like stuff like Social Security and Medicare and we're cool paying for it. You frame this like it's some kind of scheme to enthrall Americans, but our government is us. If you want to talk about inefficiencies in the social safety net, let's start with the weird public/private meshing of providers and facilitators written into our laws by conservatives who wanted to "unleash the efficiencies of the free market" (i.e. give government contracts to their peers and later themselves). It's not like "thinkers these days" have been frightened into silence by a mob addicted to social services. They've been disenchanted by the depth of corruption in our system.
  - dempsey 5y ago
    Social security is a separate trust. Medicare is far more efficient than private insurance. It could be even more efficient but is hamstrung by corruption in Congress. Being unable to negotiate drug prices is a good example.

> lack of investment What? You’re grasping. If you want to see the problem, compare government budgets and look where all the money goes.

by jl2718 5y ago

> lack of investment What? You’re grasping. If you want to see the problem, compare government budgets and look where all the money goes.

tr_user 5y ago

They probably mean non-military investment?

asah 5y ago
IMHO it's complicated: US military spend includes tons of R&D, including stuff far from direct weaponry. Sure, it's a small % of the budget, but still vastly more R&D spending than most countries.
CyberRabbi 5y ago
>55% of the federal budget goes toward social services and welfare. <11% goes to military spending. There is no lack of investment, just obscene mismanagement, at best. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2020_US_Federal_Budget_Infographic.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2020_US_Federal_Budget_In...
- mountainb 5y ago
  Entitlements are an 'investment' into loyalty to the federal government and the system it presides over. The military is cheap by historic standards. The entitlement system is so expensive that it stymies any significant federal policy ambition that requires resources. Our political leaders generally gave up on trying to reform entitlements in the 2000s (when it was last a TV dinner issue), so instead most just try to distract from the issue with trivia. Thinkers these days tend to be frightened about trying to come up with alternative, more cost-effective ways to secure the loyalty of the population. The default position is to just not bother shifting away from the inevitable path to failure, because letting it fail might be an easier way towards creating consensus for a solution than trying to avert the failure. If the system fails because of collective inaction, no faction can be directly blamed for the failure (so the thinking goes).
  - fidesomnes 5y ago
    This is absolutely correct. But it is not just loyalty to Feds, it is loyalty to one specific Party.
  - aidenn0 5y ago
    The US government spends a similar amount per-capita on health care as France, but provides health care for a much smaller fraction of its population. There has been a massive increase in entitlement spending since the 90s with very poor results on terms of a social safety net.
    - jl2718 5y ago
      I'd like to know what the Gini coefficient is for entitlement spending by individual adult recipient. I suspect that it would be similar to the income distribution, given so many special programs for child, medical, and disability entitlements.
      - aidenn0 5y ago
        On top of that, with states cutting unemployment, a lot of people that previously would have been on unemployment are on disability now. There are a lot of perverse incentives in some of these systems.
  - camgunz 5y ago
    I feel like your comment has a serious anti-welfare-state slant to it. The US government is (well, let's stipulate anyway) a democracy. It represents the will of the people. We've decided we like stuff like Social Security and Medicare and we're cool paying for it. You frame this like it's some kind of scheme to enthrall Americans, but our government is us. If you want to talk about inefficiencies in the social safety net, let's start with the weird public/private meshing of providers and facilitators written into our laws by conservatives who wanted to "unleash the efficiencies of the free market" (i.e. give government contracts to their peers and later themselves). It's not like "thinkers these days" have been frightened into silence by a mob addicted to social services. They've been disenchanted by the depth of corruption in our system.
- dempsey 5y ago
  Social security is a separate trust. Medicare is far more efficient than private insurance. It could be even more efficient but is hamstrung by corruption in Congress. Being unable to negotiate drug prices is a good example.