However, can anyone provide evidence that private funding can accomplish anything near the scale of what NASA accomplished? I'm asking that as an honest question.
I don't love government spending or bureaucracy, by any means. Who would, except perhaps government workers? However, I fail to see any major advancements that have happened without the scale of funding that only governments can provide.
I really want to believe that the private sector can do it. I just don't see a lot of historical evidence that it can.
I suspect that it's possible. Much of NASA's flouted benefit are the technological discoveries it has made while solving the problems of Space exploration. Assuming that those discoveries have benefited our society economically more than NASA has cost it (an argument I've read before) then it seems like their would have been at least one sufficient financial incentive for private industry to pursue space if given the chance. Not to mention R&D that can only be performed in a zero gravity environment. A patent system could make all this profitable.
But there are still so many other concerns, such as national defense that crop up in talk of private space exploration that it's really hard to make any real comparison.
I kid, but no really.
But that could be because the place for rocket scientists before NASA was the Nazi party -- back when they were out to pretty much dominate humanity.
Did that answer your question?