You missed the word "public". If private individuals or foundations want to spend their own money on whatever then go ahead. But if bureaucrats are allocating tax dollars then there needs to be more careful scrutiny and accountability for results. Is it better to spend public money on this, or a replacement for the HMNZS Manawanui research ship? There are limited funds to go around.
"fiscal responsibility" and railing about public money are usually just ruses used by people pushing a political agenda.
I've had countless discussions with people who want to spend billions on sports stadiums and the military but then scream endlessly about "big government" when it comes to the arts and education.
They'll bail out wall street at the drop of a hat and then shrug with big eyes, "where's the money going to come from" when someone brings up say, having an anthropology department at UCLA.
It's an obvious bullshit game of a political project masquerading as virtue that you'd have to be a toddler to fall for. I don't care.
I'm not sure where that unhinged rant came from but it has zero relevance to my comment. Ultimately there are only a limited pool of funds to allocate so hard choices have to be made and some people won't get what they want.
