Disgusting US budget figures

[RAMA]

The US conservatives in office hate science so much they minimize it anytime they can...Science informs all the other budget categories in one way or the other. It should definitely be higher than the military and on par with education. Can you imagine just how far we'd be if we spread the wealth of our multi-trillion $ budget to improve knowledge in practical science for medical technologies as well as pure research?

I think it's important for all central governments to protect their citizens but the discrepancy here is staggering.

RAMA

 

[DarthTom]

Not that I necessarily disagree with you but Defense spending also funds DARPA. And some amazing things have come from DARPA funding, notably GPS global positioning, SIRI for Apple was originally funded by DARPA, and of course the Internet itself as a communication vehicle during a nuclear war.

 

[RAMA]

Not that I necessarily disagree with you but Defense spending also funds DARPA. And some amazing things have come from DARPA funding, notably GPS global positioning, SIRI for Apple was originally funded by DARPA, and of course the Internet itself as a communication vehicle during a nuclear war.

That's almost incidental, but I think intention is very important. By-products are always nice from military tech, but what if you cut out the middle man and got right to useful, non-killing civilian tech!

RAMA

 

[Awesome Possum]

Not that I necessarily disagree with you but Defense spending also funds DARPA. And some amazing things have come from DARPA funding, notably GPS global positioning, SIRI for Apple was originally funded by DARPA, and of course the Internet itself as a communication vehicle during a nuclear war.

That's almost incidental, but I think intention is very important. By-products are always nice from military tech, but what if you cut out the middle man and got right to useful, non-killing civilian tech!

RAMA

It's not all guns and bombs. DARPA's main goals seem to be to build everything from Star Wars from robots to artificial hands that work better than biological ones.

They're also working on A.I. to crunch their data and hopefully one day predict human behavior.

If we actually create A.I. in the next few years and it isn't by accident, DARPA will probably be the creator.

 

[JES]

Hard to judge if they actually need all $640 Billion for the military. It would be kind of nice to know where all that money is actually going into specifically.

 

[RAMA]

I did see that report where Darpa is trying to find out the exact role of AI in future systems. Very useful, though it's mainly targeted at military applications right now.

I've seen where certain observers feel strong AI will emerge from complex software used for the stock market or other intricate applications. It might seem a long way from SIRI but I wouldn't put it past them. It's already true that humans have been accidentally killed by decision making AIs.

RAMA

 

[Kemaiku]

I've seen where certain observers feel

Certain ones "feel". Real ones prove it.

 

[Taelon]

As a taxpayer, can't you ask for an itemized bill?

 

[Awesome Possum]

Hard to judge if they actually need all $640 Billion for the military. It would be kind of nice to know where all that money is actually going into specifically.

Well, they have to cover-up the Stargate program somehow.

Although in our universe, they're covering up Wormhole X-treme and Stargate is the distraction.

 

[farmkid]

The graph is a bit misleading. Total federal government spending for 2015 is about $4 trillion, so this graph leaves out about 70% of the budget.

Also, if you're upset about defense spending, remember that this pays for the defense of the US in addition to most of the defense cost of most US allies. You cut that spending and you're cutting the defense of many of the friendly countries around the world.

 

[B.J.]

It's already true that humans have been accidentally killed by decision making AIs.

Source?

Of course, it really doesn't matter that it's specifically an "AI" here. In any fully automatic system that people are around, whether it's a simple mechanical device or fully computerized, there's the potential for human injury.

 

[FPAlpha]

Not that I necessarily disagree with you but Defense spending also funds DARPA. And some amazing things have come from DARPA funding, notably GPS global positioning, SIRI for Apple was originally funded by DARPA, and of course the Internet itself as a communication vehicle during a nuclear war.

That's almost incidental, but I think intention is very important. By-products are always nice from military tech, but what if you cut out the middle man and got right to useful, non-killing civilian tech!

RAMA

It's not all guns and bombs. DARPA's main goals seem to be to build everything from Star Wars from robots to artificial hands that work better than biological ones.

They're also working on A.I. to crunch their data and hopefully one day predict human behavior.

If we actually create A.I. in the next few years and it isn't by accident, DARPA will probably be the creator.

All this so they can build a better army, don't fool yourself.

It's the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agencyand not the "Let's see what cool stuff we can come up with the money the government throws at us" Agency. All DARPA does has to benefit the military in some way first, the byproducts are nice though.

Just imagine where the US could be if they used the funds spent on the military and divide it up between Education, Science, Infrastructure and Health.

It's an ideological dream but i believe the US would still be the world's leader but without having to alienate parts of the world by aggressive actions to maintain its strategic supremacy.

But it's a dream and not reality and the US is too far gone down that road since WW2 to ever change that.

 

[Trekker4747]

As important as Defense is on a budget and as wide of a berth as it can cover beyond "men with guns killing foreign people" it seems rather insane and absurd that it costs nearly 9x as much as the next item on that list. Which is education.

I'd argue education is vastly more important than Military spending. Come on, they're not even spending half of that on the other things lumped under "Military" like the GPS system and other programs. It's all going to the military equipment we don't need, rarely use, or we start developing and then scrap.

 

[urbandefault]

There is too much waste in the federal government. Defense is the only real Constitutional mandate, and too much of that money goes into private pockets never to be seen again.

Education should be left to the states, and ultimately to the communities. Politicians and bureaucrats should be left out of the equation.

 

[Awesome Possum]

That's almost incidental, but I think intention is very important. By-products are always nice from military tech, but what if you cut out the middle man and got right to useful, non-killing civilian tech!

RAMA

It's not all guns and bombs. DARPA's main goals seem to be to build everything from Star Wars from robots to artificial hands that work better than biological ones.

They're also working on A.I. to crunch their data and hopefully one day predict human behavior.

If we actually create A.I. in the next few years and it isn't by accident, DARPA will probably be the creator.

All this so they can build a better army, don't fool yourself.

Well any A.I. they make will be used as a weapon. They seem to want it for flying drones because humans get tired and they apparently want them flying 24/7.

But at least they do try to develop equipment to improve the lives of soldiers after the war if they get injured, like this.

But pretty much every major development since 1940 has been due to war. We only have the internet because the military needed a way to communicate in case there was a nuclear attack.

 

[EmoBorg]

This website is a very good source for estimated government spending at federal, state and local levels.

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/year_spending_2015USpn_16ps2n#usgs302

 

[T'Girl]

The US conservatives in office hate science so much they minimize it anytime they can

Okay Rama, then how do you explain the US budget during the years where the liberals control the White House and both chambers of Congress?

 

[farmkid]

As important as Defense is on a budget and as wide of a berth as it can cover beyond "men with guns killing foreign people" it seems rather insane and absurd that it costs nearly 9x as much as the next item on that list. Which is education.

I'd argue education is vastly more important than Military spending. Come on, they're not even spending half of that on the other things lumped under "Military" like the GPS system and other programs. It's all going to the military equipment we don't need, rarely use, or we start developing and then scrap.

These figures are only the discretionary part of the federal budget, which is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total spending. They do not include entitlements or interest. Furthermore, these figures don't include state spending. Almost all education spending is at the state level, whereas all defense spending is at the federal level. Looking at total government spending including both state and federal, education spending easily surpasses defense (as do several other categories).

 

[JarodRussell]

It's weird to see some people basically argueing against peaceful scientific research, in favor of scientific research for all things military.

But pretty much every major development since 1940 has been due to war. We only have the internet because the military needed a way to communicate in case there was a nuclear attack.

That's not exactly true. It was used to connect universities and research institutes to combine the mainframe computers. The nuclear war communication thing is an urban legend. Even though funded by ARPA, it was about mostly civilian projects.

 

[T'Girl]

It's weird to see some people basically argueing against peaceful scientific research, in favor of scientific research for all things military.

Not arguing against it, just not have that research be purchase through the government budget. Look at the research that was undertaken by Microsoft, civilian research payed for by private money.

Pharmaceutical companies pay for research into new drugs through the sell of existing drugs.