TheRealMafoo said:
ManusJustus said:
mrstickball said:
ManusJustus said:
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TheRealMafoo said:
I also attribute almost all technology advancements in the last 50 years to free markets.
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That simply isnt true. You can definately count anything that has to do with space and satellites as out of the picture for the free market, the free market would never fund something that expensive with so much risk and uncertainity. Other things like nuclear power and computers also comes to mind.
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Virgin Galactic says otherwise.
Hyperion has been licensed to make next-generation nuclear powerplants.
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And how far is Virgin Galatic behind the United States and Soviet Government? 50 years? Meaning at best we would just be getting satellites right now. Thats not to mention what technology they've borrowed from NASA.
Do you have any idea how much the Manhattan Project, Hadron Collider, and other uncertain, experimental projects cost? Its a lot more than any private business is willing to risk money on, thats for sure.
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Government spending and capitalism is not mutually exclusive. If the government needs a product, and puts out a request, gets bids, and selects the best contractor to do whatever task then need done, they have engaged in capitalism. If they just build a nuclear research facility, and say “make me something cool”, then they have engaged in socialism.
How the government spends the money it collects is very important.
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Government spending is socialism, the government is essentially providing a good that could (or could not) be provided by the free market. If the government collects taxes, identifies a public good that the market can not provide (space flight, nuclear technollogy) and then hires a contractor from the private sector, then it is a mix of both systems.
