How Would You Spend $1T a year?

[Triskelion]

A trillion bucks US per year of society's money. What would you do with it if it were your job to allocate this money - on behalf of society?

And if you can't think in terms of how you would "fix" the world, maybe just narrow it down to "making a positive contribution."


(Oh and the reason we don't currently have this to spend is because it is pretty much what crime costs us every year - $1T).

Also bear in mind you could have spent $1 million a day since the time of Socrates and still not have reached a trillion.

 

[hux]

I'd "Brewster's millions" it.

Give loads to people around the world and tell them they have 30 days to spend it all. I'd also have a massive statue of an angry, veiny penis built that can be seen from space. Just coz.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Pay down 1/20th of the U.S. national debt.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Taxes would eat up a chunk of that. lol.

Security for my family, insurance, property management, attorney's fees, bank fees, employee costs, accountant's fees would eat up some more.

After that.... hmmmm.. I would start collecting - beginning with collectible cards, then moving to rare books, then moving to vehicles, then stand up arcade games, and on and on.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'd build new stadiums in Oakland and Tampa Bay.

And for any other team that wanted one.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I'd build new stadiums in Oakland and Tampa Bay.

And for any other team that wanted one.

Thread synergy!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ And when I say Oakland, I'd build new stadia for both the Athletics and the Raiders - normally I could give a shit about football, but NO team (not even the Raiders ) deserves to be stuck in an obsolete, dilapidated, piece of shit* stadium.

* in the Oakland Coliseum, that's not an exaggeration. The sewage leaks alone are legendary.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Pay down 1/20th of the U.S. national debt.

And that 1/20th would be back within a year or two.

Use some of the money to execute all the politicians creating the debt. Then build hux's stone penis thing, because why not.

 

[USS Triumphant]

As much of the below as possible, in this order:
1. Fund the educational systems properly, and put a three-way verification system in place to insure that the funds are being used properly. Put together a diverse team of actual teachers with good performance records to design free, open-source curriculum, and then make it available for public commentary for a year before implementation, with comments reviewed by at least two other similar teams of teachers, in order to insure academic accuracy in the curriculum and no religious or political funny business.
2. Make these available to anyone who wants one, whenever they want it.
3. Grants and X-Prize style rewards for undersea colonization technologies and successful implementation of them.
4. Propaganda - especially in schools - to promote colonization of our oceans and of our solar system as a grand cause for the future of our country and of the world.

 

[Admiral Shran]

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

With a trillion dollars a year, my stadium plan would be a drop in the bucket, so to speak. Since there'd be plenty left over, I'd allocate the rest to universal health care.

I mean, you can't call it "socialized medicine" if a private citizen is paying for it, amirite?

 

[thestrangequark]

My first thought was healthcare too. If our country insists on remaining backwards, then I'd damn well pay for it.

I'd also support my local PBS station. I'd get the coolest merch for my donations!

 

[tomalak301]

Paying off any debt I might have, invest about a million in my portfolios so it can grow over time, and then use the rest for charity, maybe a nice new car. a new house, and pay down the US National Debt.

 

[Doom Shepherd]

1. Massive boost to manned and unmanned spaceflight. I want an orbiter and lander/rover/atmosphere probe on EVERY solar system body of Ceres's size or larger. I want an O'Neill colony. I want a Terrestrial Planet Finder mission. I want to die of old age... ON MARS.

2. Found and fund the Committee for Aesthetic Deletions. ("Making the world a better place, one assassination at a time.") This will, naturally, have to be a secret organization, not "on the books." I'll tell the Republicans that the funds are for more drone bombers, and the Democrats that it's for social justice. Both lies will be true, from a certain point of view.

3. Fund 3D printing advancement. I want to be able to print everything from a TV to a new pancreas to something indistinguishable from a strawberry pie.

4 Fund development of a machine built to disassemble what 3D printers assemble, back into individual components. Near-perfect recycling! (Also practically a replicator.)

5 Massive investment in solar power infrastructure.

6. Invest heavily in Planetary Resources. Have to have something to put in the 3D printers.

7. Fund exploration for and development of known freshwater aquifers beneath the sea floor and elsewhere, in conjunction with advanced desalinization plants.

8. Billion-dollar X-prize for whoever invents a sugar-free vanilla cream doughnut indistinguishable from the "real thing."

9. Build a park where you can rampage through various miniature cities like Godzilla. Highly-paid employees painstakingly rebuild the cities after hours.

Other stuff as it amuses me.

 

[RandyS]

I'd buy Washington DC and charge the government rent.

 

[thestrangequark]

^Screw thinking of your fellow man, huh?

 

[auntiehill]

I'd spend it on funding college tuition/scholarships. The country can't continue to progress if the people can't afford the education that is required to move forward in life.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I'd also support my local PBS station. I'd get the coolest merch for my donations!

I like this idea. How nice would it be to go several years without any pledge drive interruptions?

 

[tharpdevenport]

A trillion bucks US per year of society's money. What would you do with it if it were your job to allocate this money - on behalf of society?

I don't know -- did I earn this money in some way, or was it taken from society via the I.R.S.? Both answers are entirely different.

 

[sojourner]

Personal Iron Man armor, upgraded yearly.