Could it be that modern forms of government just give individuals less tools to force or manipulate huge numbers of other people to work on these “big” projects

Could it be that modern forms of government just give individuals less tools to force or manipulate huge numbers of other people to work on these “big” projects? There are big ideas being worked on today (finding cure for cancer, reaching Mars), just not on the same scale. Many people are nostalgic for USSR’s big goals, except for those who did not share the ideas or means to achieve them (or were simply killed in the process).