Who was talking about breakthroughs and advances? You were vetching that you don't have a voice in how your tax money is spent.

Sheesh. I'll bet you're not much fun to play Monopoly with . . .

That's just it, you DON'T have a voice. It's an illusion. Do you honestly believe that breakthroughs are made by 'following the rules'? I hate to break it to you, but all ADVANCES are done by breaking the rules – and establishing new ones. Our current system is a piece of garbage, which is hindering any rapid advancement and needs to be disposed of at all costs. If you do not see this, then I guess I'm the only one operating at this wavelength, which is a pity.

There is the way it should be and there is the way that it is.

Refusing to participate in the system as it is, and then claiming you have no voice is damn silly. Running the country is a cooperative game, you can't just arrive and make up new rules.

That's the kind of answer I was expecting from you. You're delusional. There should be Departments set up (i.e. Department of Nanotechnology – Department of Agriculture – Department of Recreation – Department of Energy etc etc) and when it comes time to pay your taxes every month, YOU, personally, should either opt for the money to go to a specific department of YOUR choice or send the damn check yourself! If we could do it this way, Nanotechnology would not have just a measily half billion dollars to run on every year…it would almost have the whole damn budget!

But since the true goal of Nanotechnology is to destroy the money system (which it will) I don't know why I'm bickering.

And amplifying on that thought, considering how plastic the concept of nanotechnology is (What with all the oversimplification in the press and the jockeying of scientists for scarce funds and the hype generated by capitalists.), even the experts are not entirely sure how the the money should be best spent. We in a new world here, a lot mistakes are going to be made and lot of money is going to be wasted following illusions.

And we really shouldn't rush this process, messy though it is. Nano will get here soon enough, there is no need to hurry!

You do have a say in how your tax money is spent. You can vote your representatives in .. you can vote them out.

Here's a question you should all ask yourselves…since we all pay taxes, don't you think it is within our right to choose how that money is spent? Sure we have those worthless votes on new schools, new roads, etc etc, but that is an incredibily inefficient of doing things. I say if I pay taxes and they are mandatory then I should at least have the right to say where that money is going to be spent, instead of some braindead politician throwing the money elsewhere into worthless ventures like NASA and the military.