Awatmath.1615
net.space
utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!watmath!pcmcgeer
Fri Jan 29 18:52:55 1982
Government Funding of Exploration
However much we revere the free market domestically, buccaneering
capitalists haven't ever been able to explore new frontiers without some
government assistance. Even the enthusiastically laissez-faire 19th
Century British governments supported financially and legally extraterritorial
firms. A classic example is the East India Company, and, as jcwinterton
pointed out, the Hudson's Bay Company.
The anti-space enthusiasts may have a point, though. Contrary to
popular leftist belief, an Empire doesn't usually materially benefit the
Imperial nation. Britain bled itself white subsidizing Canada, Australia,
India and South Africa, and didn't exactly make a killing on the American
colonies. Space will, one suspects, ultimately be of tremendous benefit to
the human race - but that portion of it that remains on Terra herself may
not be the principal beneficiaries.
Oh, well, with any luck, the only people on Earth by 2200 will all be
amed Proxmire - and their heads firmly rooted in the sand.
Cheers,
Rick.
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