
Originally Posted by
discojoe
You think the government altruistically researches technology for the good of society? What you're saying sounds like a national security and/or political argument(s) in disguise.
If some theoretical new technology is viewed as pivotal to the nation's security, then fine. Fund it.
But the idea that government R&R is a humanitarian venture is preposterous. Politicians allocate funding toward these projects for political gain, which is why so much money is wasted on useless research on popular things like "green" energy.
The fact is that unless our security is at risk, it makes no logical sense to pay for these new technologies when we could just wait for someone else to, or for the free market to gradually become efficient enough to do so itself--much more cheaply.
This non-vital category of research takes place because politicians want to exert control, appease interest groups, and flaunt faux conscientiousness at ignorant constituents who favor pointless research that they think is important.