RE: "they've all derived from government funded research"
But, by definition, government funded research isn't capitalism, it's socialism, same for government subsidized farming, the space program, etc..
I was a kid in the 60s, but still remember the fascination most people had for the basement inventor, the start up entrepreneur and so forth. The US was viewed as "The Land of Opportunity" and it was practically a matter of faith among the general population that if one was innovative and worked hard, it was possible to improve one's lot in life, sometimes dramatically.
The light bulb, the cotton gin, the airplane, the automobile and too many others to name were decidedly not government projects.
Somewhere along the line, all that seems to have changed. When was the last time you heard America called "The Land of Opportunity"? Not only can't a backroom inventor get government funding, private venture capital is virtually nonexistent if the innovation in question is likely to be competitive with existing monopoly powers.
When I was a kid, "Made in Japan" was automatically viewed as being of poor quality, and it was poor quality. Today, the American auto industry is on the verge of bankruptcy because the quality has been so far compromised, it is unable to compete with Japanese products. "Made in USA" has come to mean what "Made in Japan" meant 40 years ago. It is mostly poor quality junk, shoddily constructed of shoddy material.
In the past 4 decades, America has changed from an energetic nation full of hope for the future, to an oppressed people, groveling in despair. It doesn't have much to do with capitalism, except to the extent a quiet coup has taken place where corporate America has hijacked democracy through endemic government corruption. |
