Hacker Neue

Preferences
tomhow
For the second time in two days we're having to remind you of the guidelines. HN isn't for engaging in ideological battle or posting snarky swipes about any nation's or region's superiority or inferiority. HN is for curious conversation about interesting topics. If that's what you're looking for, great, please make an effort to show it. If you keep up the snark, we'll have to ban the account.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

We detached this subthread from https://www.hackerneue.com/item?id=45008078 and marked it off topic.

chr1
If you look closer you'll see that this rockets are key to billions of people living on other planets, to cheaper internet, to better telescopes, to satellites controlling weather.

Ultimately this is an important step towards a future with healthcare providing thousands of years of life, and unlimited housing space.

itishappy
There are billions alive on this planet today. I think it's important to keep both the present and future in mind.
chr1
Well, US spends 1.5 trillion on social security and only 20 billion on NASA, so "present" is kind of overrepresented. Redirecting that little bit so that a few more people can live without working, or can get expensive treatment to live a few more years is stupid, not inspiring.
itishappy
We live in the present, so I'd expect it to be overrepresented. I expect most people don't give their kids more money than they spend on themselves, for instance.

Your second sentence showcases some wildly negative biases. I suspect we could probably save money by improving the efficiency of our social programs and end up with even more to spend on scientific advancement.

chr1
Historically most people used to spend for children and grandchildren significantly more that on themselves. The current situation when people go to other countries and then say we do not have money for more than one child is abnormal, and can't go on very long.

I agree that there are many better ways to organize social programs, e.g. replace all of them with negative tax, when some percentage of all tax collected past year is divided equally between all citizens of any age.

Sure well organized society is very impressive, e.g. invention of capitalism and private ownership is the greatest invention ever made, but the point i was trying to make is that it is only a foundation for really exciting stuff like science spaceships, immortality.

idiotsecant
This attitude that because one thing is bad we should ignore everything else is an incredibly small idea. Yes, we have a professional class of rent seeking middlemen that have captured the American healthcare industry. That sucks. We also have the industrial and technological power to do cool stuff. Let's do both things. Fix our problems and advance our technology.
imoverclocked
To be fair, the same people benefiting from large government subsidies to develop private space travel are the same one(s) that actively gutted social programs and entire government agencies that provide value to the general population.

NASA is cool and undergoing massive defunding. Education is already under-funded and now under attack. Science is being actively squashed and replaced with religion yet somehow, you think space travel will become more likely?

TheOtherHobbes
There is a very strange, obvious, and bizarre reality gap between "We're going to Mars" and "...and we'll start by destroying decades of science funding and public education."

No one rational can possibly believe this is supposed to be a serious strategy, surely?

durandal1
But what we can't have is affordable housing and healthcare without private actors effectively involved in value creation. As has been demonstrated over and over again.
devmor
We could have both, easily. It’s a shame.
BurningFrog
Starship isn't really a country.
monkeywork
grass is always greener...
SnuffBox (dead)

This item has no comments currently.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Story Lists

j
Next story
k
Previous story
Shift+j
Last story
Shift+k
First story
o Enter
Go to story URL
c
Go to comments
u
Go to author

Navigation

Shift+t
Go to top stories
Shift+n
Go to new stories
Shift+b
Go to best stories
Shift+a
Go to Ask HN
Shift+s
Go to Show HN

Miscellaneous

?
Show this modal