In one e-mail you say that advocates for worthy non-profits have an obligation to redistribute money from those having ill-gotten gains, but in this case it “flawed human beings” “belong up on the hill”. It seems there is an ethical
line in your mind after all. This is not to say that *I* think LANL has ill-gotten gains, but if *you* did, it seems to be exactly what you were suggesting: As a LANL scientist (~ leader of a non-profit), one *should* seek a portion
of the multi-billion dollar budget (~ Epstein riches) and do some science (~ good not bad thing) with it.
It is voters in the US that have given LANL the primary role that it has had. If voters don’t like that role, they should change their government. I think voters do like and want that role, because they being a dominant country in the
world. A menacing military helps make it so. Recently, many voters have been pretty overt about their predatory inclinations, with Trump’s walls and all that.
LANL is a premier Department of Energy lab that without any huge structural changes could further advance climate prediction and mitigation, renewable energy, planetary defense, environmental cleanup, or pretty much anything. There will
be hundreds if not thousands of staff up there that would love to diversify their priorities if given the opportunity.
Marcus
From: Friam <[hidden email]> on behalf of Merle Lefkoff <[hidden email]>
Reply-To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Date: Monday, January 13, 2020 at 8:37 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Fwd: NO LANL IN SANTA FE! Wednesday, 12; 00 outside SF City Hall; bring friends
Marcus, I spent four years at CNLS as Guest Scientist and Affiliate. I still wouldn't be O.K. if it were housed in Santa Fe. Nuclear weapons work--and Lanl is a nuclear weapons laboratory--
whether research or training or administration doesn't belong anywhere on the planet. But if it is going to be pursued by flawed human beings, it belongs up on the hill. As many of us know, and you rightly point out, our local economy is in a far-from-equilibrium
state. Bringing more humane education of some kind to Santa Fe would provide a tiny bit more balance.
On Mon, Jan 13, 2020 at 9:06 PM Marcus Daniels <[hidden email]> wrote: