{"id":6572,"date":"2013-08-09T23:43:59","date_gmt":"2013-08-10T03:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beginnersheart\/?p=6572"},"modified":"2013-08-09T23:43:59","modified_gmt":"2013-08-10T03:43:59","slug":"to-bravely-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2013\/08\/to-bravely-go.html","title":{"rendered":"to bravely go…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NASA<\/a>I hate war. Hate. And there isn’t really much I use that word for, at least not seriously (I hate ticks, for instance, and mosquitos, but not like WAR…). And I actively dislike that my tax dollars go to support it.<\/p>\n

I also love science. And I actively dislike that my tax dollars do NOT go to support it. At least not in any significant way. Hence the table on the left.<\/p>\n

It’s a fact: the entire history of NASA’s budget is less than TWO YEARS’ military budget.<\/em> Yep. You read that correctly. As Neil deGrasse Tyson<\/a> notes, the 2008 bailout of banks alone was more than the 50-year history of budgets for NASA. What is up with\u00a0 THAT??<\/p>\n

So here’s what I want to know: with Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Eureka, Big Bang Theory, and the beloved Dr. Who, each\u00a0 garnering huge viewer market share, and sci-fi books one of the best-selling genres, why don’t we vote for more science $$?<\/p>\n

Here’s my new mantra: Make spaceships, not war<\/em>. Or at the very least — Make discoveries. <\/em> Because discoveries are generative. They will feed us, enchant us, and enrich our lives. War? As the brilliant Edwin Starr<\/a> told us years ago, absolutely nothing. Not to mention the whole ‘collateral damage’ thing.<\/p>\n

Why not shift our $$ priorities, and look into our future…?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I hate war. Hate. And there isn’t really much I use that word for, at least not seriously (I hate ticks, for instance, and mosquitos, but not like WAR…). And I actively dislike that my tax dollars go to support it. I also love science. And I actively dislike that my tax dollars do NOT…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[216,601],"tags":[11,1181,1187,262,1238,603,604,602,1318],"class_list":["post-6572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-science","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-education","tag-edwin-starr","tag-nasa","tag-neil-degrasse-tyson","tag-science"],"yoast_head":"\nto bravely go... - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I hate war. Hate. 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