Carl Sagan: We need to invest more in our poorest and less in military might
QuoteCarl: We have let all sorts of social programs languish as we have permitted the amount of children in poverty to increase. Before the end of this century more than half the kids in America maybe below the poverty line.
What kind of a future do we build for the country if we raise all these kids disadvantaged and unable to cope with the society. Resentful for the injustice served up to them? This is stupid.
TTT: And then what happened with the resources is they they went into increasing budgets for arms. Isn't that where the money went.
Carl: That and making rich people richer. Those are the two places.
TT: The thing about rich people, and I being one. Is the money all gets reinvested. If you've got money you put it in a bank. The bank runs it out to people to buy homes or cars or whatever.
Carl: Not to poor people. That's a good point. It tends to stay up at that highly stratified level.
TT: More people get employed with capital formation. Are you a socialist?
Carl: I'm not sure what a socialist is, but I believe that the government has a responsibility to care for the people. I'm not talking about dole. I'm talking about making people self-reliant. Able to take care of themselves. There are countries which are perfectly able to do that. The United States is an extreme rich country. It's perfectly able to do that. It chooses not to.
The United States chooses to have homeless people. It chooses. We are 19th in the world in infant mortality 18 other countries save the lives of their babies better than we. How come?
They just spend more money on it. They care about their babies more than we care about ours. I think it's a disgrace and this country has vast wealth. You just look at what something like Star Wars. The money on Star Wars already spent is $20 billion. If these guys are permitted to go ahead they will spend a trillion dollars on Star Wars. Think of what that money could be used for.
To educate, to help bring people up to a sense of of self-confidence. To improve not just the
happiness of people in America but their economic standing. To improve the competitiveness of the United States. Compared to other countries we are using money for the wrong stuff.
Carl feared half American children would be in poverty by the year 2000. Was he right? Dammed lies and statistics. Hell if I know. But check this out.
