[perkele1989]

government agencies aren't the ones building the knowledge, know how and world wide soft power of a country. it's the people and their businesses. a government is meant to govern the administrative tasks of everything imposed by the social contract of a country, nothing more. and given that the US is built on a foundation of liberty.

how much more are american taxpayers expected to foot the bill for? a lot of them work two or three jobs and still cant make ends meet.

[theyinwhy]

Giving a state's power to private companies led us to where we are: reconnaissence capabilities left to the good graces of Musk. A company will never put a country before its shareholders.

The low wage comes from the companies paying little, not from the very low US income tax. In other countries people pay 50% income tax and earn way more nevertheless.

[perkele1989]

I literally earn 4x more from my US clients than from my EU clients, living in EU. Economics is much too complex to be reduced down to "companies are paying too little". It all comes down to inflation and what influences inflation, like international trade policy, policies on things like farming and domestic trade, but also policies that trade financial wellbeing for attempting to prevent climate change.

Mass-slaughter of chickens due to an unjustified fear of bird flu is one of very many small examples that lead to higher living costs.