You’ve got some serious tunnel vision there, and I can see there isn’t much chance of getting through, all things are not politics, there IS a bigger picture to consider, and profit is not exclusively defined by dollar signs.
Ignoring that bigger picture and turning our backs on exploration as a nation IS the ultimate abyss.
I’ll leave you with this.........
Jacques Cousteau, the world famous ocean explorer, spoke of his own experience of exploring the waters off Crete, site of the ancient Minoan civilization. He and his crew were not after resources, but knowledge of a little-known civilization. “Why would we spend one full year of our lives and over $2 million just to raise a tiny corner of the veil concealing a few episodes of our past,” Cousteau asked rhetorically.
“What is the origin of the devouring curiosity that drives men to commit their lives, their health, their reputation, their fortunes, to conquer a bit of knowledge, to stretch our physical, emotional or intellectual territory? The more I spend time observing nature, the more I believe that man’s motivation for exploration is but the sophistication of a universal instinctive drive deeply ingrained in all living creatures. Life is growth — individuals and species grow in size, in number, and in territory. The peripheral manifestation of growing is exploring the outside world.”
Summarizing his remarks, Cousteau wrote “the exploration drive, pure and natural, is associated with risk, freedom, initiative, and lateral thinking,” by which he meant non-deductive reasoning that allows the mind to investigate apparently uncorrelated events and sometime find correlations. “The enemies of the exploration spirit are mainly the sense of security and responsibility, red tape, and exclusive vertical thinking,” by which he meant deductive thinking that does not also allow one to explore unusual pathways, whether physical or intellectual.
Cousteau
Nice Quote..
Their Lives... Their Health, Their Reputation and
THEIR FORTUNES
Not others. Certainly not monies taken by Governments in the form of Taxation by the threat or fear of force or violence.
No one says the American People at least people like myself are unwilling to help and assist in bigger projects than we can take on as individuals or have expertise in. Those that agree with my point are simply asking that those on the Government dole related to scientific inquiry make a legitimate and substantial effort to reduce expenditures and increase the immediate value of their efforts in what ever field.
If and when we have our national debt paid and our economy is back on it's feet I think we will all support more esoteric endeavors..
Better an austere budget than no budget in the future at all.
W