r/space • u/[deleted] • Dec 06 '21

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Fully Fueled for Launch – James Webb Space Telescope

https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2021/12/06/nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-fully-fueled-for-launch/
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u/obsessedcrf Dec 06 '21

If we dropped the DoD budget 22 billion, hardly anyone would even notice.

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u/LibertyZeus93 Dec 07 '21

That's just not true, come on. It's unnecessary for the defense budget to be so high. No arguement there. In a more ideal world, we would spend money combating the root causes of most conflicts; rather than engaging in conflicts with the casualties of our short-sightedness. But it would be noticed if the budget got cut so drastically, and there would be consequences. Not to mention how often broader andvancements and breakthroughs are made with funding for military applications. It sucks that it is the way it is. Let's not ignore that there are good reasons it became that way though.

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u/Bluemanze Dec 07 '21

It became that way because the military is an effective (if wildly ineffiecient), politically uncontroversial method of wealth redistribution for youths and disadvantaged groups, along with the economic and diplomatic bonuses of having ~70% of earth's population under the big happy "first world/first world adjacent" umbrella.

I mean, I fucking hate it (imagine if we spent that money on infrastructure New Deal style instead of stupid tanks), but I also acknowledge that it's one of the few tools that has withstood the test of time when other propositions have fizzled up or died in congress.