• Poutinetown@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    Alright, it’s funny how a similar post on investing in public compute for AI got comments on “what about housing” upvoted to the top, while this comment gets downvoted with very little “discussions”.

    Now that it’s the military all of a sudden there’s nothing to criticize, guess it’s a good investment that will not end up in the pocket of the military?

    Again, not saying the military shouldn’t be getting that money; clearly arctic defense is not off the table with how Russia has been acting. What I’m saying is how differently people here react to doing something crucial like building a national AI strategy that could hedge against private-held automation technology, vs spending on the military to potentially defend against Russians.

    Yes, housing needs more money (and better planning), but so does public AI infrastructure (used to benefit Canadians) and military.

    • Adm_Drummer@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Bootlicker take btw.

      Canadians and the public tend to be supportive of infrastructure or spending that supports their life or provides tangible good.

      The Canadian military has time and time again proven to support the Canadian people in times of crisis. Whether that be snowfall in Toronto or record flooding in Ottawa or annual forest fires in Alberta that are getting worse.

      We can spend the money on the military to ensure its there for when we need it. Provide the military money to house, clothe and feed those soldiers, or…

      We can fund AI that most Canadians are worried about.

      • Poutinetown@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        The announcement doesn’t mention anything about a better salary for military, or about better mental health support after discharge or better pension. The military budget increase will be to build arctic bases and upgrade submarines. How exactly does that help the actual soldiers?

        • Adm_Drummer@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          If you’re having trouble paying your bills and your boss gives you a raise that makes paying your bills easier, right? Now you have freed up income that can properly go other places and be spread evenly instead of going paycheque to paycheque.

          The military funding in Canada is Anemic to say the least. Yes, the money goes towards bases and subs up north but this is still a net positive for funding in the CAF. Thus a net positive for Canadians.

          **Even if that money is given to you via grocery store gift cards as a “bonus” you now don’t have to spend rent money on food.

          • Poutinetown@lemmy.ca
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            3 months ago

            What’s happening with this funding is that your boss heard you had trouble paying for your bills, so they asked for a bigger budget, and used the extra money to move the office to a nicer building, buy better screens and chairs in the new office, but does not increase your salary.

        • Poutinetown@lemmy.ca
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          3 months ago

          If you mean the announcement gives the “perception” that soldiers are being helped when in reality it will be given to private companies then yeah it makes sense