🚀 go-pugleaf

"JETman" <jetassoc@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:3D5E2186.B408A77B@worldnet.att.net...
>
>
> CKIM wrote:
> >
> > "Herman Rubin" <hrubin@odds.stat.purdue.edu> wrote in message
> > news:ajj1i8$2dse@odds.stat.purdue.edu...
> >
> > > well off.  Every advancement of civilization was by empowering
> > > those who could do what the typical person could not to do so
> > > and benefit personally from it.  This is what the socialist
> > > advocates cannot realize.
> >
> > Really? Let's see....
> >
> > - Movable type: created by monks for the benefit of society
> > - Democracy: created by philosophers for the benefit of society
> > - Nuclear power: created by government-funded scientists for the benefit
of
> > society
> > - Space travel: created by government-funded scientists for the benefit
of
> > society
> > - Internet: created by the military and further developed by the
civilian
> > government, for the benefit of society
> >
> > Those are just the first few that came to mind. I'm sure I'm missing
volumes
> > of advances that were never created to profit an individual. It's fun to
> > watch neo-conservatives leap to conclusions, and fall flat on their
face.
> > And before you go calling me a liberal, you should know that I've voted
> > Republican since I was old enough to vote, except for the exception of
one
> > gubernatorial candidate that I personally knew was a boob. But I vote
> > Republican for different reasons than most.....
>
>
>
> Well let'see.....
>
> Light bulb - Invented by Edison who was a "for profit" person.
>
> Telephone - Invented by Bell who was a "for profit" person.
>
> Transistor - Invented by scientists at Bell Labs, a "for profit"
corporation.
>

Do you notice a crucial distinction between these two sets? The inventions
you named _can_ be created by an individual or for profit, because it's easy
or there's plenty of money in it. Not to denigrate Edison's work, but a
lightbulb was _going_ to be invented, it was just a matter of who the
inventor would be. Some of the deeper advances, like democracy, nuclear
power, space travel, and the Internet, would likely never have been made by
private entitities, either because of their scale or because the profits
would come far too late.