Why The Pentagon run the best schools and the safest nuclear program

Summary

You know what I love most about Mars? They still dream. We gave up. They’re an entire culture dedicated to a common goal, working together as one to turn a lifeless rock into a garden - Franklin DeGraaf in Remember the Can’t Episode 3 Season 1 of The ExpanseIn The Expanse, a character observes the civilizational contrast between Earth and Mars. Mars is unified by a dream: transforming a lifeless rock into a garden. Earth had a garden and paved it over. Mars still dreams; Earth gave up.The observation resonates because it touches on lost state capacity: the ability not just to imagine better futures but to systematically build them. America once had that capacity. We built the Interstate Highway System, landed on the moon, created the internet. We were Mars. Somewhere along the way, we became Earth.ShareOr so the narrative goes.The same federal institution demonstrates both spectacular dysfunction and extraordinary implementation success.The United States Department of Defense has failed its financial audit seven consecutive times since audits became mandatory in 2018. The Pentagon cannot properly account for its $824 billion budget. In 2024, auditors gave DoD a “disclaimer of opinion.” They couldn’t obtain sufficient evidence to form any opinion on the finances.The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, once projected to cost $233 billion, now exceeds $428 billion in acquisition costs (84% over initial estimates), with total lifetime costs now exceeding $2 trillion. The aircraft remains plagued by cost overruns, delays, and poor performance. Mission-capable rates hover around 50-60%.The Zumwalt-class destroyer program was cut from 32 ships to just three after costs ballooned to $7.5 billion per ship. That’s more than many aircraft carriers. The ship’s primary weapon system was canceled because ammunition cost $800,000 per round. Together with the Littoral Combat Ship, these programs “consumed tens of billions of dollars more to acquire than initially budgeted” and deliv...