"Marvin Long, Jr." wrote:
>
> On Sat, 23 Jun 2001, Ronn Blankenship wrote:
>
> > >[BEGIN PARANOIA] But a missile defense is an excellent way to transfer
> > >money from tax payers to defense contractors. [END PARANOIA] :-)
> >
> > [BEGIN LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE] Who may then provide good-paying jobs for
> > techie types. [END LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE]
>
> [PROPOSE SOBER ALTERNATIVE] Maybe if the government diverted some of those
> defense funds into civilian capital investments and research, there'd be
> even *more* jobs for techies and non-techies alike, seeing as how a
> missile defense system, no matter how effective, cannot be used in turn to
> build or create anything. [DISPOSE OF SOBER ALTERNATIVE]
>
This is an excellent point. Haven't I heard people argue that part of the
reason for the boom during the '90s was a shift away from the defense industry
after the end of the cold war?
Doug
