Sci Fi is a flavor of fantasy that favors grounded explainations over magic, yet can’t escape it entirely. In order for something to be sci fi, it must have something in it that can be percieved as “magical,” even in the “sufficiently advanced technology” sense of the word. Jump/warp tech, laser weapons, space warfare in general, most life support concepts, AGI… All magic as far as we know now. Any sci fi without the roots of fantasy is really just modern fiction.
Protection from grit. And because polymers that can resist balistic shock and heat had only very recently been invented by then, and it was “cool” to find a way to make it useful.
Question: We’ve seen sand-filled missiles due to corruption and cronyism, and they were actually transfered to the front line expecting to be live munitions. How many Russian ICBMs do you think are truly functional between the “new” ones and the 70yo cold war hulks?
To be clear, I don’t revel in the idea of a war between the Ruskies and NATO, but Putin is certain to be wondering this, too. How effective are his strategic assets, truly? I’m sure the CIA has figured that out and is guiding US response on that intel. They know exactly how far an insecure dictator can be pushed.
Underlegislation leads to a bloated, extortionate upper crust that weilds disproportionate power over those who rely on said financial system. There is a balance, and the problem you outline is the lesser of the two extremes.