3 ms·

Any country can land on the moon after spending the same amount of money and effort as the US; intelligence and talent are abundant, existing in every nation an

Any country can land on the moon after spending the same amount of money and effort as the US; intelligence and talent are abundant, existing in every nation and human being.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> Any country can land on the moon after spending the same amount of money and effort as the US Objectively false in so many domains. Americans aren’t smarter than other people. But we are very good at organising resources for novel pursuits.
- bluGill 3y ago
  There is no reason other countries couldn't do that. Many are too poor, but they could get rich (how is an open question) and do it.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > no reason other countries couldn't do that Yes, there are. A simple example is Latin America. Americans are willing to risk a recession, which predominantly falls on the poor, to stave off inflation. We’re slow to regulate and quick to let immigrate (even if we sing a song and dance about it, constantly) in a way most polities won’t tolerate. These come at costs that aren’t bearable for many, including in America. But the counterpoint is a tremendous capacity to reorganise and marshal resources.
    - bluGill 3y ago
      That is why they won't do it, not why they can't.
      - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
        That’s closer to can’t than won’t. The political structure won’t permit it. We’re comparing sociopolitical systems; suspending the limitations of the society and polity makes the argument tautology.
- thiago_fm 3y ago
  We'll see if that talent will still exist once the money printing press stops working. Americans are great at many things, just like everybody else.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > that talent will still exist once the money printing press stops working This is a tendency that has existed for generations, pre-dating the invention of central banking. It comes with tremendous costs—we see that in our inequality and homelessness. But the counterpoint to that is individual agency, regulatory reticence and capacity for innovation (and the blending of ideas, given America is a multigenerational multiethnic nation) that is relatively capital-intensive for others to match.
mardifoufs 3y ago
I guess the question is how to get the means to spend such efforts, and how Europe didn't
- SEJeff 3y ago
  They tried to build a domestic program with Arianespace, but the cost for the engineering is too competitive. New space entrants like SpaceX and soon to be Blue Origin make it economically infeasible for all but the most sensitive EU NATSEC missions to be handled by US providers. It’s a shame to see honestly.

Any country can land on the moon after spending the same amount of money and effort as the US; intelligence and talent are abundant, existing in every nation and human being.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago

> Any country can land on the moon after spending the same amount of money and effort as the US Objectively false in so many domains. Americans aren’t smarter than other people. But we are very good at organising resources for novel pursuits.

bluGill 3y ago
There is no reason other countries couldn't do that. Many are too poor, but they could get rich (how is an open question) and do it.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > no reason other countries couldn't do that Yes, there are. A simple example is Latin America. Americans are willing to risk a recession, which predominantly falls on the poor, to stave off inflation. We’re slow to regulate and quick to let immigrate (even if we sing a song and dance about it, constantly) in a way most polities won’t tolerate. These come at costs that aren’t bearable for many, including in America. But the counterpoint is a tremendous capacity to reorganise and marshal resources.
  - bluGill 3y ago
    That is why they won't do it, not why they can't.
    - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
      That’s closer to can’t than won’t. The political structure won’t permit it. We’re comparing sociopolitical systems; suspending the limitations of the society and polity makes the argument tautology.
thiago_fm 3y ago
We'll see if that talent will still exist once the money printing press stops working. Americans are great at many things, just like everybody else.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > that talent will still exist once the money printing press stops working This is a tendency that has existed for generations, pre-dating the invention of central banking. It comes with tremendous costs—we see that in our inequality and homelessness. But the counterpoint to that is individual agency, regulatory reticence and capacity for innovation (and the blending of ideas, given America is a multigenerational multiethnic nation) that is relatively capital-intensive for others to match.

mardifoufs 3y ago

I guess the question is how to get the means to spend such efforts, and how Europe didn't

SEJeff 3y ago
They tried to build a domestic program with Arianespace, but the cost for the engineering is too competitive. New space entrants like SpaceX and soon to be Blue Origin make it economically infeasible for all but the most sensitive EU NATSEC missions to be handled by US providers. It’s a shame to see honestly.