My take on it is that many of the fundamental advancements in the last couple of decades are increasingly shifting from the public sector into the private secto

My take on it is that many of the fundamental advancements in the last couple of decades are increasingly shifting from the public sector into the private sector. SpaceX benefits NASA, but it is beholden to itself and it's shareholders, not the public (this being said as a massive SpaceX fanboy). Same with Apple. These companies exist to benefit themselves first, civilization second. Conversely, if the development of the fastest CPU was funded by direct government funding it would be available as a foundation for future use by all, instead of other manufacturers needing to (re)discover the techniques themselves.