Ask HN: Was Silicon Valley created out of luck or out of work?

I've been spending some time talking to some leaders in my area. They are a political and economic force in my area - highly regarded and esteemed by millions in my area. Their main argument that Silicon Valley came to existence was because of a lot of luck and money from the government. There is no difference in the people that work there from the people that work where they live. What do you guys think created SV? Did it come out of a lucky government grant or did it come out of the hard work of the people that lived there? In my personal view, while Silicon Valley did get some federal funds early on, the vast majority of it's creation was from it's people. People who did everything they could to actually try and make the world a better place vs just finding another job. While it does get obsessed with odd stuff (like optimizing for ad clicks), for the most part, the entire place eventually finds its way to change the world for the better.