"But why aren't we spending it on CHILDREN? Think of the CHILDREN!"

[tacit]

So for those of you who've been living under a rock for the last couple of days: Yesterday, something amazing happened.

No, I don't mean the US soccer Olympic team beating Canada by one point in a dramatic overtime goal. I mean something really amazing. Something mind-blowing.We took a one-ton nuclear-powered robot rover and threw it 350,000,000

Comments

[james_the_evil1]

Well, spending on porn by couples might inspire more motherhood...

[remix79]

But aren't most of the items on your chart what individuals spend money on and not taxes spent on government programs to help the poor? I think that's what most people mean when they say funds should go to public benefit programs over space programs.

Edit: Maybe I'll just speak for me instead of "most people".

Very true

[remix79]

These are things that individuals are choosing to spend money on instead of using it toward things like clean water projects. That is, money they can direct where they want to direct it. I don't know, but I suspect, that the vast majority of those who complain about money not going toward such worthy humanitarian projects as clean water projects are themselves choosing to spend money they have direct control of toward things like alcohol, cigarettes, financing their church ($29 Billion per year in the U.S. and Canada), and the other things on the chart.

These are choices that they, themselves are making about where money they directly and immediately control is used.

Complaining about the uses of public funds is one thing - and an easy thing. Putting your money where your mouth is is another.

(This is not an attack on yourself, for all I know you donate generously toward humanitarian projects, just commentary on the behavior of people in general.)

[tacit]

Yes, people do make that argument; in fact, someone has already made that argument on Facebook.

It's not entirely 100% accurate; for example, a surprisingly large amount of taxpayer money ends up going to the NFL. The cost of a city to host a single Superbowl is jaw-dropping, and it's a sunk cost; typically, hosting a Superbowl brings back about one-third the money in revenue that it does in taxpayer expenditure. So that's one example of taxpayer money being spent on something nonessential. (Fun fact: The taxpayer subsidies for the last seven Superbowls added together is greater than the cost of the Curiosity mission.)

In a way, though, the argument fails because taxpayer money is individual money, paid to the government. Most of the folks I've seen make the taxpayer argument seem to be saying "I want more money to go to feed hungry children, but I don't want to spend less on roses for Mother's Day or on Halloween candy to make it happen, and I don't want higher taxes either...I just want someone else to pay for it

[sweh]

Huh. I didn't buy or make use of any of those things. I did, of course, pay US taxes which went towards funding of Curiosity. I consider that good use of my money :-)

[sweh]

Math check...
#1 says 1.3Bn, 25% (~500m). 25% of 1.3Bn is ~300m. 500m is closer to 40%

[tacit]

Right you are! Fixed. :)

Where we choose to spend

[ext_1340550]

It's true - these are things that individuals are choosing to spend money on instead of using it toward things like clean water projects. That is, money they can direct where they want to direct it. I don't know, but I suspect, that the vast majority of those who complain about money not going toward such worthy humanitarian projects as clean water projects are themselves choosing to spend money they have direct control of toward things like alcohol, cigarettes, financing their church ($29 Billion per year in the U.S. and Canada), and the other things on the chart.

These are choices that they, themselves are making about where money they directly and immediately control is used.

Complaining about the uses of public funds is one thing - and an easy thing. Putting your money where your mouth is is another.

(This is not an attack on anyone here, for all I know we donate generously toward humanitarian projects, just commentary on the behavior of people in general.)