[Communitivity]

I hope I am not user 2. Innovation through war happens, but it happens faster if we focus on innovation itself. Also, the innovations that happen in war are predominantly weapon-focused.

It is good to be able to defend yourself. However, if you have a high belief that your neighbor will attack you, then it's a good idea to ask why. The answer is usually ideology or resource scarcity, more often resources or a combination.

If you solve the problem of scarcity of resources, then there is a much reduced desire for war. Climate change is going to make food and land more scarce, leading to more conflict. Population growth is going to do the same (though we're seeing some signs that might be self-limiting in some countries). If we poured into space colonization and climate change half the money each year we spend on defense, we'd stand a good chance at solving those problems. I don't have the math in front of me, but I think half would be about $500 billion per year, counting regular spending and special aid packages. That's 20x NASA's budget for next year, or put another way, 20 years of NASA research at current funding.