Anzat

Senator Paul, why have you proposed legislation to cut NASA by 20%, the NSF by 60%, and NIH by 30%?

Do you disagree with the analyses indicating a highly positive return-on-investment for federally funded science?

Do you think there should just be a lot less science getting done, or do you think states and corporations will begin to fund a lot more science than they already do? Where will they get the money? Why would any single state fund the kind of broad basic research typically funded by the feds when their previous track record is understandably limited to funding local issues (e.g., Alaska funding salmon research) or polishing well-developed concepts very close to the development of profitable products?

Do you not think de-centralizing basic research funding would dramatically increase the amount of time scientists have to spend writing, submitting, and reviewing proposals to many different sources? Do you not think they spend enough of their time doing this instead of research already?

When they asked you what Germans think of North Korea, were you honest? Or is it considered rude or illegal to tell them what's really going on?

One thing I've always wondered about competitive shooting: Why are the distances so short? I know it's still a skillful sport, but I would think it would be even more interesting if you were shooting out at 600-1000m where you have to take so many other things into account. I know there are some long-range shooting competitions, but is there a category for it that normal rifle teams participate in?

I'm tremendously impressed by the curiosity, drive and search for meaning in young people today.

You seem incredibly optimistic about young people. As a relatively young person by comparison (but still a geezer on Reddit at 34), I have to wonder: where is the optimism coming from?

It seems to me that there are some very talented and driven young people now, as there always have been. But there are also a lot of lazy, self-entitled brats. I'm sure there have always been a few of those, too, but it's a common sentiment that their numbers are increasing. This is often attributed to the rise of an attitude in education and parenting in which everyone is a winner, everyone is special, everyone needs to have their self-esteem boosted at all times, etcetera -- and this has poorly prepared young people to deal with real competition or rebound from failure as adults. For example, I recently saw a conversation between professors complaining that up to 10% of their class was now begging for (or even angrily insisting on) unearned extra credit at the end of the semester to bring their grades up. Do you think this problem really exists, and if so, what's to be done about it?

Thanks for the detailed answer!