Stephenson says here (video here) that America should have more huge projects like the Space program to boost our morale/give us more tech dividends.

Somewhat related- Deathmatch on Mars: An Interview with Warren Ellis on Newt Gingrich, Space Realism and Future America gives hard arguments to refute certain comments...

What do you think? I'm a space program booster and sci-fi fan from way back, but even I think that today we can't afford to spend any more on monolithic projects (never mind that NASA is basically scrapped, plus, how are we going to pay back China for what we've already borrowed?), and any sort of rah-rah patriot talk like this smacks of hubris and propaganda.

Thoughts?