Hi Claudio,
>>Claudio;
>
>Hi, Tom!
>
>>From what I have read of the history of flight, the Wright brothers did not set out to create a flying machine for the military. As is true of many technological entities it is the market and where the money is that determines how an invention will be used.
>
>yeah, I think this is among thing that I hate the most about humanity: it's always all about the f... money. If I'd be able to invent something that could kill the entire humanity except for a few rich people who could do with the Earth planet whatever they want to, I'd probably be a millionaire now.
>
>I just can't stand that line of thinking.
>
SNIP

In fact, as related recently on a Discovery channel program, the U.S. military was backing some other well-connected person's attempt at a flying machine when the Wright Brothers succeeded.
And the Wrights sat on their invention while patents were written up and approved, and I think that is the "capitalist" and common-sense thing to do.

Times then, of course, were significantly different than they are now as far as the power of money and the number of people seeking it is concerned. Today money is everything to just about everybody and the mode of acquiring it is inconsequential to far too many.

My saddest story relating to technology has to do with testing the first atomic bomb... the scientists (I've seen/heard them say from their own mouths) were VERY uncertain as to what would actually happen when detonated and there was genuine fear that the chain reaction might spread to engulf the whole earth. Yet they pushed the button anyway!!!

Sadly, especially today, MONEY is the root of virtually everything that is destructive to humanity. When a way is found to stop this then we will have come a long way indeed.
As long as we (first world, but U.S. particularly) are dependent on oil there will be no peace on earth. I suppose if that dependency ends then it will just be something else that will be coveted. After all, without war, or at least the threat of war, countless highly profitable corporations will go broke real fast. I'm guessing that even MS makes real good dough from the Defense Departments of many nations.

Even excluding war (or the desire for a peaceful world) money still is the root of much anguish. I look at the AIDS epidemic in Africa and say to myself...why wouldn't the drug companies with the effective drugs supply those drugs to African countries at cost plus 5%... and I think the answer is simply GREED. I think They're waiting for richer first-world governments to anti-up $$$ to let them sell the drugs for something like cost plus 500%, which I hazard would still be way under the price they sell for today in the U.S. And they use excuses like 'the drugs would only make their way back to the U.S. because of corruption' to retain the status-quo.
Even 15 years ago business had SOME heart (largely driven by the need to out-class Communism) but those days are long gone.
regards