This sort of boondoggle happens in all corners of our society though. I mean... you like NASA... so I'll use them as an example.
The Challenger blew up because of O-Ring failures. Devices that were needed to seal the different cylindrical sections of an SRB together. Why not simply make the SRB from one big cylinder ? Because it wouldn't fit on a semi truck for shipment to KSC. Why do we need to ship these cylinders, can't we just build them right next to the pad ? Because we needed the jobs in the state they were manufactured in. Sound familiar ?
This really is just how things work. It shouldn't be. And this project gets all the attention because of the spectacular nature of the failure... but it really does happen everywhere. It is the kind of public spending folly to be expected from a democratic republic where each region has its own representatives.
It's not about public versus private. It's about the will to hold ourselves to higher standards.
Nearly upend the global economy with derivatives - no consequences, because the economy is too fragile, because our derivatives imploded. Invade a relatively stable nation on the basis of known lies - no consequences. Compared to that, what does washing a mountain of coal ash into a river amount to? Or betting that Indian Point can survive an earthquake?
And so on down the line. Yesterday there was an article posted about how easy it is to get through university and not learn anything. Because, so far, it is possible to maintain a good reputation for academics and let that slide for the sake of revenue.
This is how you become something less than a first-world country, and how you get surprised by the demotion: Having undermined standards, you can't even measure how far we've slid.
The Challenger blew up because of O-Ring failures. Devices that were needed to seal the different cylindrical sections of an SRB together. Why not simply make the SRB from one big cylinder ? Because it wouldn't fit on a semi truck for shipment to KSC. Why do we need to ship these cylinders, can't we just build them right next to the pad ? Because we needed the jobs in the state they were manufactured in. Sound familiar ?
This really is just how things work. It shouldn't be. And this project gets all the attention because of the spectacular nature of the failure... but it really does happen everywhere. It is the kind of public spending folly to be expected from a democratic republic where each region has its own representatives.