[BenAufero]

I think the complaint is not that the government funds research for defense, it's that it could be funding energy, medical, etc research.

I honestly don't know if I fully agree with his complaint, because I'm fairly sure the government does fund a lot of other research that isn't defense focused (see a lot of universities).

[Ericson2314]

It funds many sorts of research but much less development. Research ideas do not develop themselves and so the story of modern academia is zillions of abandoned ideas.