Just because the government-- which has spent $8T over the past several years -- spends some money on &quot;technology&quot;, mostly aimed at better killing people overseas, does not mean that the government is the reason that we have iPads, etc. SpaceX in fact, shows how inefficient it is-- instead of spending $1B (at least) per launch of the &quot;reusable&quot; space shuttle, SpaceX is able to put things in orbit an order of magnitude cheaper.<p>If a thief steals your car and gives you a bicycle, should you thank the theif for giving you the gift of transportation, or recognize that you would have been better off in the first place if you could have kept the car?<p>This is the problem with all these &quot;government made the internet&quot; type claims-- they ignore that the government spends orders of magnitude more, and produces remarkably little ($8T during the Obama presidency, for instance. The entire national debt accumulated to the Reagan era-- widely criticized for his profligate spending-- was only $4T.)