Never ceases to impress me how long ago we were capable of such ornate manufacturing really—most of the time I think progress has been wildly more rapid over the last century or so, and it has in some ways, but in others we're still just doing things we've been doing for millennia.
I guess $2.6B isn’t enough in the late stage capitalism era to stave off tacky.
$2.6b generates at best of the order $200m in usable funds. I would be amazed if that is even remotely close to the operating costs of an institution like this.
Interesting financial report, by the way. Lots of info about what they do with photos, lists of who donated money, and then, the real financials start at page 79 of 87 and end on page 82.
Half the opex is federally funded. half the costs are salaries. The SI employs a lot of people and costs far, far more than the endowment to operate.
the page 80 endowment disbursement distribution is fascinating too. they do amazingly good work across the board, from this money.
I have a tiny, weenie functional duty of care on a board over a sum 1/100 of this size and if I felt we were doing as well as them in governance, I'd be proud.
I will say, I think they should lawyer up and defend the retention of the shuttle and tell the politicians to F off but I can understand reluctance to be this bald about it.
Is it possible? What are the chances? Was bronze age production heigh enough?
BTW if you visit some archeological museum, the difference between Stone Age tools and Bronze Age tools is quite striking. In the Stone Age, each tool looks different, while by the Bronze Age, the spearheads etc. are so uniform that they could have been produced in a modern factory.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malone_hoard.JPG
They're admittedly different sizes, but the intent to churn them out is clear. These things were ambiguously tools or currency: they were transported long distances and hoarded.
There was another, older, stone age industrial site in France that produced thousands of beads. The way I remember it*, there was evidence that they fed themselves by trading beads for food. It's interesting to me that a stone age lifestyle might for some people resemble factory work.
*My apologies if I'm confabulating this. I think it was in the Loire Valley. I need to track down what exactly I'm half-remembering here.
