CelticBear’s Musings

An article on CNN.com discusses how NASA has no money in its budget for locating planet killing asteroids:
NASA lacks funds to find killer asteroids
And I see what NASA’s yearly budget is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Budget), a little more than $16 billion.
Wow, that’s a lot of money.
Hmm, I wonder how much the pentagon budget it for the war in the Middle East:
$982 billion for current military expenditures (not things like VA and military pensions and benefits–just the cost of the DoD for the year,) of which $161 billion is for just Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns for the year.

NASA: $17 billion (at best)
DoD: $1 trillion

NASA has 2% the funding the Dept. of Defense has. NASA only needs at most $1 billion more to track planet killer asteroids. That’s the amount that’s spent in three days in Iraq.
Hmmm, where would I rather my money go to… an illegal and immoral war in the Middle East or tracking rocks in space that could destroy the planet?

Granted, the chances of there being a planet killer that will hit us is ridiculously high. But that’s not the point. People (like Katie Couric) ask, why even spend $17 billion on space when there’s starving people on the planet? Well, as Phil Plait the Bad Astronomer explains, NASA isn’t just about pretty rockets: because of NASA we have satellites that allow us to use satellite phones for field workers in remote locations on the planet–like those doing relief work and medical research. because of NASA we are learning about climate change in general as well as have the tools to monitor hurricanes and dangerous storm fronts which can give us the ability to prepare people. Because of NASA we have safer planes and air travel than ever before. Because of NASA we have medical research and developments that can’t be done on Earth. Because of NASA we can get closer to discovering ways to both protect our planet from eco-disaster and possibly spread humanity outward in order to survive the species (which may or may not be a good thing.) At the very least, because of NASA we are learning more about what kinds of life may exist elsewhere, how stars form and die, what’s happening to our galaxy, what black holes are, how does Dark Matter affect matter, etc etc.

As for people starving on Earth, besides the fact NASA’s past and present research and development helps in efforts to feed and give medical care to people around the world, it’s not a matter of our not having enough money because NASA’s taking it all. Look how much is being spent by the military! Just a fraction of it, the cost of half of the monstrous new U.S. embassy complex being built in Iraq, could feed the millions of starving children around the world AND vaccinate them against measles and polio.

The United States could still wage wars all over the world and be responsible for feeding it, and no money would have to be taken away from NASA or Social Security. In fact, spend only 5% less in Iraq, 5%, and the entire U.S. could also have health care.

It’s a matter of priorities. Right now we have a war-mongering administration that cares more about corporate profit and empirical power than it does people and social issues. Most of Congress, Democrats as well, also are corporate lackies and major shareholders care more about corporate interests than the welfare of humanity.

Putting government spending aside: 98% of the world’s wealth is held by 2% of the population. Many of those top 2% are in the federal government. The Bush family, for one. While 400 million children starve, 2% of the the population are buying yet another summer house that could feed them all for a month. One summer home in Cancun. How many homes and private jets and tax shelters do the top 2% need?

Sure, throwing money at the world’s problems won’t cure them. Most of the world’s starving people are in places of drought ridden, war torn areas. But it wouldn’t take much to create infrastructure and land management that could change the conditions. It’s a matter of priorities.

Just discovered this: http://www.truemajority.com/oreos/
Update: This is an interesting report on the cost of the Iraqi war:

They figure the Iraqi war cost so far $350 billion. What could that have bought?
6 million new teacher salaries
or 700 new elementary schools per state
or 8 million new police officers
or 6 million new port cargo inspectors
Let’s see, an illegal and immoral war that has ruined a country, destabilized the region, turned us into a heavily supported and liked country into the most hated country in the world even from other Western countries, and has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and thousands of US servicemen and women, and ultimately has made us more of a target and susceptible to terrorist attacks….
Or we could have improved the education of our country or improved the security of our country directly.

Nice.