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Comment by clumsysmurf | Hacker News Reader

Sadly though, Trumps budget would completely eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This would be devastating for library services cross the country.

http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2017/03/president-s-b...

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Yep. Why do we need libraries? We should instead fund the military with billions of dollars because that's how we make this country great.

Well... that's actually true. The US are where they are because of their military power and intelligence.

The US is, at the least to an equal extent, also where it is because of its excellent possibilities to have access to a free flow of information and stable not profit motivated institutions that allow that access. This includes libraries.

You don't build tanks and planes without them. Nuclear bombs without them.

Look at south korea. Plenty of military, no brain.

That's why I mentioned intelligence. You need proxy wars, coups, espionage, state-funded terrorism, etc etc in other countries to maintain your power. The US excels at that.

> Look at south korea. Plenty of military, no brain.

I'm genuinely curious - what did you mean by this?

I think he meant North Korea. But they did build a Nuclear Bomb (or rather got the tech successfully loaned from China)

According to some high-ranking North Korean defectors, they actually built it themselves with no direct assistant from China or Russia -- which explains why they are so crappy. Their nuclear program is still young and poorly funded.

Yes I meant the dictatorship, not the starcraft mothership.

But if we get rid of libraries, cut art programs, and social programs for the poor; what the hell would the military even be fighting for?

What they've oftentimes fought for since the birth of the country - powerful business interests sometimes masquerading under political campaign rhetoric of "freedom" or "justice." Whether it's over taxation or slavery, economic impetus is the seed for most conflicts in the US and in the 20th century evolved into ideological conflicts that harm US business interests.

No kidding.

China, which happens to have >1 billion more people than the US, will be spending less than half of what the US is already spending (before the $50 billion increase) as soon as they double their defense spending.

there's a few reasons the US is the most powerful nation in the world, and the world's most capable military is one of them

I'm not arguing with that, simply stating that there is already an obscene amount of funding for our military. I don't believe for a second that it is necessary.

The problem with the Trump era to me is that I'm no longer able to tell sarcasm from earnestness.

> completely eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The IMLS was established in 1996 with an annual budget of merely $200 million. As a comparison, the funding for libraries in tiny Arlington County, Virginia with a population of only ~200,000 is 13 million dollars[1]. This department may be doing meaningful work, but it is hardly work that could not be undertaken by local governments coordinating for the betterment of their own residents.

As a broader argument, libraries are primarily supported at the local level with state oversight. There's no real need for an entire Federal department to further oversea and attempt to control the practices of local bodies.

I am a great fan of government, and government funding of the arts and education but I believe it should be done at the local level where citizens can meaningfully affect the government which is doing the work.

Federal funds, if given, should be given gratis to states without any mandates or provisions the most general sense.

[1] https://arlingtonva.s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/wp-...

>This department may be doing meaningful work, but it is hardly work that could not be undertaken by local governments coordinating for the betterment of their own residents.

This assumes that what should happen will happen in the absence of federal funding. Can you provide an historical example of when this has been the case?

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