Take a moment after looking at this meme to seriously ask yourself — what innovations over the past quarter century have come from the public sector?
Now, assuming you’re playing devil’s advocate, your knee-jerk reaction might be to point to the fact that the U.S. government presides over the most lethal military force in the history of planet Earth. You might recall the fact that the U.S. Department of Defense boasts for having the most advanced missile systems, naval ships, and air planes the rest of the world can only gawk at. But even this isn’t entirely accurate.
All of those aforementioned things were researched, developed, and manufactured by the private sector. When it comes to hardware, if you really want to thank anyone, thank Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. While it’s true personnel in the U.S. Armed Forces are incredible in their own right, all the federal government really did to get them the equipment they need is sign a check.
This goes far beyond just the military. The space programs that have now become a part of American legend were also made possible by pooling the best and brightest minds from the private sector.
If the government actually had a hand in making anything (aside from, well, welfare dependence or staggering debt), their products would probably look a lot like these sandwiches.
~ Facts Not Memes
