It’s no secret that the federal government likes to spend money. Lots and lots of money. Which, to have a functioning government and a successful society, is completely acceptable. The biggest concern that rises for me, however, is where the government chooses to prioritize its money.
I was sitting in my astronomy lecture the other day, and we were looking at the cost of sending rovers to Mars. For example, the cost to send NASA’s latest rover, Curiosity, to Mars was approximately $2.5 billion. It was a staggering amount of money, but incredibly worth it after all of the new information we’ve recently gathered from the rover.
While $2.5 billion seems like an insane amount of money, it is nothing compared to the federal government’s overall budget. The total amount of discretionary spending for 2015 is $1.11 trillion. Of this amount, 0.48 percent of it goes to NASA. In comparison, 54 percent of the federal budget goes toward military funding, a staggering $598.5 billion.
The federal government prioritizes national security literally over any other aspect of the government, both domestic and international. In 2014, the U.S. spent more than a third of the total defense spending worldwide, and nearly as much as the next 14 countries combined, most of whom are allies.
I believe that the U.S. has a warped conception of the importance of military spending and priority. Yes, having a sufficient military budget is important, but having it be 54 percent of the total federal budget is absurd. Other federally funded programs such as NASA and social programs are just as, if not more important than military funding. As the question goes, “We can’t feed the poor but we can fund a war?” Or look at NASA, which accounted for about 4.5 percent of the federal budget when it was created during the Cold War and now accounts for 10 percent of that. Or how the $850 billion 2008 bank bailout is greater than the entire 50+ year running budget of NASA. It seems that America has some obsession or priority in only investing in things that will help us win another war or immediately aid the economy. It doesn't prioritize the intellectual innovation of the nation.
Both the pacifist and the Neil deGrasse Tyson lover in me urges America to take a hard look at how the federal budget is distributed. Just think of the innovations that would come by simply doubling NASA’s budget. We could go to Mars sooner. We could go back to the moon. Go to asteroids. Go to other planets. Dream of all we could do.
Neil deGrasse Tyson claims that "the most powerful agency of the dreams of a nation is currently underfunded to do what it needs to be doing, and that's making dreams come true."
