Spacecraft wreckage spotted on Mars (29 Apr, 2022)

[aardvark_admin]

This column is archived at: https://aardvark.co.nz/daily/2022/0429.shtml

We're one smart bunch of apes -- but we're also incredibly stupid.

How much more advanced would our technology and even our civilization be if we'd spent all the money wasted on war, on more productive things?

Sure, war in and of itself is a catalyst for technological innovation but that is merely a side-effect, not a goal.

When you consider how comparatively cheap missions such as the Perseverance are when compared to the cost of going to battle or even buying a social media platform, one must surely question whether we've got our priorities all screwed up.

[GSVNoFixedAbode]

According to Wiki, the USA Military budget for last year was over $750B
I know a lot of that goes back into the US economy - jobs etc, but there will probably be a few getting obscenely rich as well. Just think if even half of that was spent on non-fossil-fuel energy sources, or food, or education.

[paulw]

You got me really exited there thinking that they had found an alien space craft not from Earth but somewhere else. Great pix though.

[shadesnz]

Bruce,
I showed my mother your article and this is what she said: We are living in a world where the pursuit of power is more precious than the creation of an intelligent species.

[aardvark_admin]

I think your mother is right

[phill]

sadly her great great grandmother would have been as well