I wonder how much of our funding priorities are just based on who has the best marketing. We’re never allowed to forget about the existence of the military because we have Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day and Armed Forces Day and Independence Day and Flag Day and parades and action movies and a national anthem glorifying armed conflicts that has somehow become mandatory for every public event. So the Department of Defense gets all the money they want.
Meanwhile, the physical infrastructure our society depends on is often invisible by design, attracting public notice only when it breaks down. Out of sight, out of mind, out of most budget planning.
Maybe we need more parades to celebrate line workers and aqueduct technicians.
