A matter of priorities

Technology is intimate with war and thus geopolitics. This post encompasses all 3

I find myself mystified.

That the US navy can invest HUGE amounts of funds
developing Electromagnetic rail guns to be used in the reinvention of the
battleship. The technology is impressive. Nuclear dreadnaughts that can fire 12 main guns. each reaching out 100 miles at mach 7 to 9.

Yet NASA is seen as a drain on funds, when its budget is far below that of Us navy [programe]. Who's nuclear sf battle ships will likely never be used. I mean.. who can fight such sea power. What idiot nation would try. [thats the point]

Yet. NASA. Is out future.. And Atomic powered battleships a husk of empire reborn from the lust for power of a select few.

We have to decide..
Support space exploration, and all the unimaginable benefits it can bring.
or .. say nothing and let old men build titanic useless machines.
I ask if the threat is terror. the war on terror.. what use is a Nuclear powered battleship .. does it have a terrorist target mode?

Prill [ test post ,, who is interested in such?]

ps.. And to those that say threat is also from nations.. well. the nimitz carriers can FLATTEN any perceivable threat. Why use a machine gun when a pistol will do

 

It's probably a case of deciding which will have the most immediate payoff in whatever form that's to be.

 

I don't think it is just one or the other. For example rail gun technology may have application for space payloads.

 

The dope... very true.

I considered that for use in post but it confused issue.

AFAIK Rail gun tech IS from SF and space dev. [ payloads from lunar surface for example]

And as a aside, HArd Sf is written by the leading edge of the science world.
They 'invent'

 

Stinkfoot .. what payoff is there in a nuke powered railgun Dreadnaught.
geopolitical power?
To me its just that they developed the tech.
So it may be used for space exploration exct.

After all the military must serve some purpose other than being powerfull

Look at the trillions spent on nuclear deterrent 'peace is our profession'

That money used well would have colonies on mars.

The thing is.. The system does not want such. You cant lay a hand of power on a place 70 million miles away.. they get ideas..and so they'll be spouting rubbish like freedom and independence.
Soldiers cannot be sent with colonists.. that tips the hand. Who do they fight? The colonists?

 

Science has to follow current technologies to get funding. You can't jump from national defence research abruptly into colonizing Mars or any other aspect of science research. Scientific projects compete for funding and the military has a very big pocket of money. Millions of jobs rely on scientific research into technology.

The U.S. has a capitalistic economy. Capitalism means we consume in order to create productivity, develop employment, cash flow, and prosperity. The entire free world depends on consumption.

Communist block countries develop utilitarian societies where a single product often has multiple uses. They produce only what is needed and distribute income across the social spectrum. What we call welfare, they call socialism.

When the public stops consuming capitalism fails. Technology develops avenues of newly created public interests; expansionism. Seems to me that the ever growing need for consumerism leads the "free world" to venture into new consumer territories namely third world.

Communism, in its brief history, has served to check the balance between big money and smaller interests which was the central debate over the conflict in Vietnam and continues into the middle east. Outside involvments are able to keep big money from crushing smaller economic interests. Capitalists need to have their ego's trimmed from time to time. Investing in technology often keeps big ego's humble especially when a venture leads to a cul de sac.

My thoughts ...................

 

FKK

Im sure the presidium understood that. And built 30,000 hydrogen bombs to widen the gap [in cold war] between big money and smaller interests.

Consumerism Rules the planet. This is not goods , buy and sell but services.
One cannot now get a job without a host of tickets, singed off by people with little or no skill in subject.
Insurance webs by the score

Everyone coddled a safe.

Sickening

Prill

 

I quite agree with you Prill. The job market has been ignored by government for a long time. In Communist countries the inbalance of power is overcome by revolution; in the "free world" it is by voting Democrat.

Republican's represent corporate salaries while the Democrat's represent the wage earner. However, the Democratic leaders have become salaried and now pay dues side by side with the Republican's at the same country club. Wage earners are left out to starve or start a business of their own.

As history always dictates the easiest business to start involves illegal activities; crime. The biggest Republicans in history have been criminals behind the headlines. I think you are correct in your view of "services." Those criminals who make it big do so by serving those who keep them free. We are not judged by who we are or what we do, rather, who we serve.

Make friends ........................

Thomas

 

Actually it was synonymous with war but ever since some bright spark invented the laboratory (hence meaning we did not need the field to test things), and of course war became so expensive science budgets are hence cut, we have not needed war to progress, and also some clever guy at CERN invented the internet/web so we could share information instead of hoarding it in the blind hope we will win at war because we is techno smarter than you. Try telling that to the average idiot on Earth and they will call you crazy. WE! Need WAR!

List me one offensive war that say... The US has won since well the second world war, which they didn't win exactly, and wasn't offensive anyway? List one on the attack war that didn't set the planet back decades, making the term war a politicians nightmare. you can't can you, now try it for the whole of the West, meh you might find one, but good luck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVESMxs4rbA

In short of course I agree with the OP.

 

Carlid

Agree.. As a geopolitician.
Only the korean war [ a last minute finalizer on ww2] was of any concept of worth.

All wars since then have been wars to forge the Western millitary into a praetorian guard for the Plutocracy.That which owns 80% of the planet.

Ps.. What i laugh out loud at is how nuclear war was forgotten so fast it made ones undies spin.. suddenly .. global warming.. and terrorism were the catch words spout VERY loud on all media...


HAHAHHAAAAA

 

Hmm!! Quite an interesting topic to be in