2 Million dollars? Is that really all that much to spend on something that could result in not only fewer military Human casualties, but the technological benefits could make all of our lives a lot better also!
Imagine if DARPA had rescinded funding to the Transfer Control Protocol systems project because it would only be used to ensure that military computer would be able to reroute information that would normally transfer through 'nuclear effected areas'.... Image that... Without TCP, You, me, and builder wouldn't be able to rail against our military budget on a free speech medium such as this without some VERY expensive phone bills...
Imagine if Eisenhower had taken the funding away from the National Highway Act because it was going to be used in the event of war to rapidly shift troops and materials around our country... The highways too turned out to benefit the country as a whole rather than just the military...
Imagine if we had stopped working on the airplane because it was only being used to bomb Germans... would your life be better now?
How about if the Military decided to stop experiments on a little known mold called penicillin because it would only stop battle field infections, and would thus prolong the war... Next time you get a shaving cut and you don't die, think of that...
Should we have left the German V2 rocket program in ruins because it was a military program? Little tough to get to the moon without it, and not to mention that the satellites that TCP is running over right now to make you read this **** is flying around in space... Would we have satellites if it were not for the cold war and it's need for real time imagery, and if we did, how would we get them up there without rockets?
$2 million is a drop in the bucket for something that useful... But that's Capitalism for ya! The government sees a need for something, and first, it looks to the civilian sector... The civilian sector produces the item in question and gets the contract to build it, usually creating JOBS, some of which will pay 200-300 K a year for some engineers.... And The company (usually American) gets to keep and upgrade the technology....
These Upgrades will revolve around civilian uses, and once the market is established, we can all benefit from it...
Let's see what is possible for a measly $2 million investment...
Cars that drive themselves... great for old people, blind people, lower insurance
Cheaper distribution costs.... 1/3 of all price is usually distribution.... Imagine paying $1 for milk again... or $2 for OJ!
border patrol drones.... you can't even imagine how much that would save us every year
How about knowing that we have all but solved a key problem with the production of automated robots... PRICELESS
The US has had the controlling portion of stock on most of the worlds most priced technologies... The Plane, the car, mass production, penciling, the internet, satellite tech, tv, effective radar, missiles, the space race, etc, etc.... But here we are in 2005, looking at 2010, and realizing that this country has lost a lot of it's standing... everyone can build a plane, almost everyone has a car, and if you don't, it's not like its a great wonder.... it's a ******* car, not one of the Beatles! The Oriental nations have BY FAR surpassed us in mass production techniques, slave labor or not, they are still way ahead. If you're reading this, the internet is no black magic. The only part of this that is still ours is the space race... We are the first and only nation to put men on the moon! But guess what... The Chinese have already made plans to be there by 2020...
So what's next.... Where is OUR generations CAR, or Penciling, or Moon landing?! We don't know where it is.... A major advance in robotics technology could be it, but we'll never know until we try it...
Don't you think it's a little cheap to complain about $2 million that could really be used by many people in this country for many reasons, when we repeatedly blow
$10 BILLION paying for illegal immigrants....
