Virtually all dumb government programs are propagated through fear mongering and the chinese "space race" is yet another example. We built at least one order of magnitude (probably 2 orders) more nuclear missiles that we would ever need based on fudged numbers and flawed logic of the soviet threat. We've got a dumb drug war that we've ramped up spending exponentially for decades and whose effect has only been to worsen criminal activity. We've mispent and misallocated tons of military spending based on misguiding and misinforming the public. And as much as I was awe struck by our Apollo program, I believe that too was misguided as it was based on political fear and not sustainable exploration.

Trade wars and (dumb) import tariffs are usually based on scaring the public about jobs. Good jobs and wealth are created by economic efficiency, and yet most of the fearmongering results in policies that reduce economic efficiency (socialism, social engineering, and increasing bureacracy). Sorry, but this "Chinese space race" triggers my govt BS button and pulls the string on me thinking about decades of dumb govt policies.