Actually, this disturbs me greatlystarfyroneJuly 21 2015, 11:49:55 UTC
As soon as I read the headline it gave me that cold rock in the stomach sort of sinking feeling.
If this is successful, how badly is the budget for the Smithsonian going to be reduced next year?
All of the US Parks, Monuments and similar things are already woefully under-funded. Once congress gets in their head that "People will pay for it if they want it, just do a kickstarter" will they fund those things at all?
It brings the cliche "Wouldn't it be nice if _______[1] had money and the military had to hold a bake sale to buy a tank?" into sharp focus.
Unfortunately I think the mere existence of this is a big win for the "drown it in a bathtub" folks.
[1] Schools is the usual thing filled in, but I've seen others, research, parks, arts, ...
Re: Actually, this disturbs me greatlyevceltJuly 21 2015, 21:53:43 UTC
Congress has already been slashing the budget for the Smithsonian and everything else that isn't related to pork-barrel projects. It's nothing new, and it's not going to stop any time soon. I'd much rather this be funded by several thousand people who have a passion for/interest in the result, rather than a) it be funded by a corporation that will be doing it so they can slap their advertising all over it or b) it not get funded at all.
Sure, it would be great if the government would get back to properly funding museums, schools, research, parks, etc. But things like this Kickstarter aren't going to stop that from happening. At most, it will provide another excuse for not doing it... it won't change the behavior.
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If this is successful, how badly is the budget for the Smithsonian going to be reduced next year?
All of the US Parks, Monuments and similar things are already woefully under-funded. Once congress gets in their head that "People will pay for it if they want it, just do a kickstarter" will they fund those things at all?
It brings the cliche "Wouldn't it be nice if _______[1] had money and the military had to hold a bake sale to buy a tank?" into sharp focus.
Unfortunately I think the mere existence of this is a big win for the "drown it in a bathtub" folks.
[1] Schools is the usual thing filled in, but I've seen others, research, parks, arts, ...
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Sure, it would be great if the government would get back to properly funding museums, schools, research, parks, etc. But things like this Kickstarter aren't going to stop that from happening. At most, it will provide another excuse for not doing it... it won't change the behavior.
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