>Because we (the USA) are spending most of our money on the insane military complex there is little extra public funding for actually beneficial R&D
This simply isn't true at all. The US doesn't spend that much money on the military compared to other countries. Go look at federal expenditures; most are for entitlements: social security, medicare, etc.
As a percentage of GDP, US expenditure on the military is nothing unusual, and even a little low compared to many countries like Israel, Russia, probably Saudi Arabia, etc. It only seems huge because the US is huge, and has an enormous GDP, so of course it can afford to spend a lot more than a country like Italy for instance.
As the sibling comment said, look at how much the US spends for healthcare (not just federal expenditures, but total spent in the economy), and then ask why the US gets so little for its money there.
The problem in the US isn't spending money, it's how the money is spent and where it goes. Most of it seems to go into a black hole. Just look at how expensive it is to build anything.
This simply isn't true at all. The US doesn't spend that much money on the military compared to other countries. Go look at federal expenditures; most are for entitlements: social security, medicare, etc.
As a percentage of GDP, US expenditure on the military is nothing unusual, and even a little low compared to many countries like Israel, Russia, probably Saudi Arabia, etc. It only seems huge because the US is huge, and has an enormous GDP, so of course it can afford to spend a lot more than a country like Italy for instance.
As the sibling comment said, look at how much the US spends for healthcare (not just federal expenditures, but total spent in the economy), and then ask why the US gets so little for its money there.
The problem in the US isn't spending money, it's how the money is spent and where it goes. Most of it seems to go into a black hole. Just look at how expensive it is to build anything.