• UglySpaghettiHoe [he/him]
    cake
    ·
    3 years ago

    So how is America going to complete against these sorts of advancements? The "free market" requires the government to innovate and America just doesn't seem like it's willing to invest the money

      • panopticon [comrade/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        What was that thing about capitalism sowing the seeds of its own destruction? I'm actually feeling optimistic today, it's wild

        • boyfriend__ascendent [he/him,undecided]
          ·
          edit-2
          3 years ago

          “the main impediment to capital is capital” - a theme that repeats over and over in history

          Worth noting is that ITER is an international project that has a a fair few US scientists and some governmental support: https://www.ornl.gov/content/us-iter

          That said, it could have TONS more. What is we funded it like the F-35?

          • panopticon [comrade/them]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Yeah I wonder about that whenever news about fusion power comes up. The whole thing about fusion power being perpetually 20+ years off seems to be predicated on how much funding it gets. It would be pretty messed up if, this whole friggin time, we could have already been using fusion to replace fossil fuels if that money had been going to the DOE for research instead of the Pentagon (and equivalent agencies worldwide).

        • kota [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          "What the Bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave diggers"

    • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      NASA was created after the US got spooked by Sputnik and that's the only instance I can think of off hand, but that was in the 1960s where the public had expectations for the state to do things. The state now just throws money at cops and military because the rest of it has been hollowed out.

      • GnastyGnuts [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I think we could see the US crap out some shitty half-privatized monstrosity of a program headed by various fail-sons and fail-daughters of the ruling class, but mostly we'll probably see the ruling class pump funding into the CIA and other spy orgs to try to sabotage it while, as you said, throwing money at cops to suppress people at home.

        • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          That sounds more like it. Some kind of public facing front for scientific development led by Howard Schultz's kids or something but it just becomes a pointless non-profit where they scam money around for 5 years and then dissolve quietly after accomplishing nothing.

    • richietozier4 [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      they're going to get shocked maybe try to move some funding there, but then they'll get paid by someone who's paid by someone who's paid by someone who's paid by someone who's paid by Chevron to never do it. Isn't the free market fun!