P
PeachMonkey
Guest
lvwhitebir said:History has shown that the more the government spends, the better the economy.
Then why not let the government spend it on employing people in peaceful endeavors? I wasn't advocating simply dumping government spending -- merely transferring it from funding stealth bombers and missile interceptors to socialized medicine, technology research, work programs, and the like.
To get to some of your specific examples, DARPA's funding for the research that led to the Internet went to colleges forming research networks. That same sort of funding continues today without any tie to defense planning. Who says that we have to be working on stuff to bomb the crap out of communists in order to be working on high-tech equipment with high-paying engineering positions?
It's interesting that conservatives object to government spending unless it's on defence, even if history shows that the economy is better when the government spends more.
In the end, it's a nice thought to be able to choose your charities, but that "freedom" is really costing millions of Americans the ability to get medical care, food, and shelter, let alone the problems billions have around the world. But as long as you're comfortable with that, I guess it's okay, right?