"...in a galaxy far far away"

I've always never understood why the United States spends so much money on Space exploration. I understand that it is a very expensive industry, but is it all necessary when some of that money could go towards eliminating poverty? Well, I've come across an author that believes that the money put toward space exploration is not frivolous when people are spending more money on luxury items. He makes very valid points, but not everyone spends a lot of money on luxury items but instead give large amounts of money and time to help those living in poverty. He discusses how the amount people in the US spend on "pets, toys, gambling, alcohol and tobacco" is about a trillion dollars a year. He argues that this is 63 times the amount that the US has spent on space exploration. He then mentions that "$250 billion are spent annually in the US on the medical treatment of tobacco-and alcohol-related diseases-only sixteen times more than on space exploration." He says that what we spend money on ruins peoples lives (the drugs, alcohol, and gambling) while space exploration has not destroyed lives (he fails to mention the people that have died due to space ships blowing up...). Although I think that space exploration should have less government subsidies, I think the author provides valid points. My favorite quote of the article is, "It is not the exploration spirit that Americans need to give up in order to alleviate poverty. It is the consumerist spirit." To read the entire article, visit www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-04b.html