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Entire human history has been like this. How many Bachs, Mozarts, Michelangelos, etc. got to do great things just because of a sympathetic ruler who held all the pursestrings?

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I don't think you can rightly compare "rich people who spend money on art" and "rich people who employ people and become richer".

I agree that plenty of good has happened because of the profit motive but SpaceX is not patronizing the sciences, NASA is.

The point is that over the course of human history all science is done at the whim of or in the service of bad people. Do you think Galileo didn't have wealthy patrons that descended from a long line of brutal warlords not afraid to crush some skulls to get ahead? This is how humans operate. You have to make progress where you can, how you can. We don't have the luxury of waiting for mister Rogers to start a rocket company.

There's a whoooole lot of breathing room between Elon Musk and Mr. Rogers. More ethical employment opportunities exist now, today; SpaceX employees are choosing not to take them.

Sure, name them. Tell me where this hypothetical rocket building brain power is better spent.

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