> certainly you're not claiming the USG knew that expending X resources on the early internet would result in Google?
Of course not, why would you even think that? What about a technology being obviously useful implies the need to make arbitrary predictions multiple decades into the future?
Ok then how can you say that Bitcoin mining is wasteful? How can you be certain that it will not lead to massive productivity gains? What is the standard you are comparing Bitcoin to for resources required to enable censorship free payments? And how do you know precisely how much censorship free payments is worth now or at any time in the future?
Of course not, why would you even think that? What about a technology being obviously useful implies the need to make arbitrary predictions multiple decades into the future?