The great capitalist and believer in small government (at least when he is talking to the base) has promised to put a permanent base on the moon by the end of his second term.
So I guess this could be test of that mantra of evangelical free-marketeers, that the private sector should be left to innovate and the government has no role in business.
“Throughout history, technological advances have been driven by private investment, not by government fiat. There is no reason to expect that to change anytime soon.”
So I hope this means no tax breaks, no direct government payments, no publicly funded safety net or insurance, only private investors and private money should be expected in financing this enterprise.
However in reality you just know that the private sector will be begging for welfare in the research and development phase and conveniently forget the role of the government after the base is built. It will become another myth in support of corporate achievement. Just like production line manufacturing, public health care, banking systems, the last space effort, the internet etc.
As is often the case in faith-based systems, reconciling doctrine to the facts of history can be tricky. When I read Neeley’s piece, I immediately thought of the long list of modern technological innovations that came directly from government-directed and -financed projects, most notably containerisation, satellites, computers and the internet.
The initial research-and-development for all these projects so central to the modern economy came from the government, often through the military, long before they were commercially viable.
So is the pusher of small government and “making your own way in the world” gonna remain consistent or is he, like every other right wing proponent of the free market gonna pillage the public purse and not care about who will pay for it.
Kidding… rhetorical question the first option is even an option.
