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The President of the United States (and I don't mean the current office-holder, I mean the office of the President) is uniquely incapable of being this person t

The President of the United States (and I don't mean the current office-holder, I mean the office of the President) is uniquely incapable of being this person that you want. They are the head of the Executive branch. They uphold the Constitution, specifically the laws passed by Congress. In this conversation, the President can merely suggest goals to Congress. Also, Congress is in no position to do what you ask, either: they make laws. It should not be illegal to NOT pursue the Great Challenge you talk about. It should also not require taxing everyone. It should require motivating people to help. If it's to succeed, it also needs to pay for itself, or be so self-evidently worthy that people donate to it enough money to keep it going. In short: I don't think the Government can do you what you want. Here's where I put my hope for the future: http://www.planetaryresources.com http://www.planetaryresources.com

rayiner 14y ago
The space race was funded with tax dollars and I doubt the fees charged for commercial launches ever paid a fraction of it.
- VikingCoder 14y ago
  Yes, and I agree that it felt like a feel-good mission at the time. Many people theorize, and I believe correctly, that it was entirely an aggressive posturing war between the US and USSR. We could just drop a nuke from space, with no launch to detect, so no way to retaliate in time - no mutually assured destruction, which was the only real defense either party had. Don't get me wrong - I'm generally very liberal by US standards, and I think the Government should do a LOT more to "promote the general welfare". I just think that money doesn't care how you spend it, and governments can't set the kinds of goals that the OP proposes. Other than ending diseases, I suppose.
- Shivetya 14y ago
  and the great railroads first came from private industry as did the canals as did the airlines and so on and so on. The only reason the space race was done by government first is because they were more concerned with killing other people with the results. Face it, government rarely does something first or best except when one government wants to eradicate another.
  - rayiner 14y ago
    The railroads were heavily subsidized and enabled by government. Without eminent domain authority and grants of government lands, the great railroads would never have happened. The first substantial airplane network in the U.S. was the Post Office's air mail service. Most of the existing U.S. airlines evolved from air mail contractors. Aircraft technology was heavily pushed forward by government spending in World War I and World War II. The first supersonic plane was a government project, as well as the first hypersonic plane. In other areas: The transistor was invented by the research arm of a government-granted monopoly; nuclear technology was pioneered by a government weapons project; the double helix was discovered at a publicly-funded university; we're talking to each other over a network created as a department of defense program; much of the field of artificial intelligence was developed under the department of defense. The U.S. government linked the pacific and atlantic oceans through the panama canal; the Army Corps of Engineers made the southwest habitable; the Army Corps of Engineers built and maintains the locks that makes the Mississippi easily navigable. The 20th century is a triumph of the American model: government policy-making and funding/subsidization combined with implementation by independent public or private entities.
    - spikels 14y ago
      Many of these examples are a stretch: (1) The transistor/monopoly theory make no sense. The US government never granted AT&T a monopoly but broke it up in 1982 when they discovered it was a monopoly. (2) I don't think the residents of New Orleans would agree that Army Corps of Engineers should be a model for anything. I'm sure there are some truly great non-military US government accomplishments but I just can't think of any... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Army_Corps_of_Engineers_civil_works_controversies_(New_Orleans) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Army_Corps_of_Engineers_ci...
jcdrepair 14y ago
You are most definitely correct that the President can not and should not be able to dictate any policy. That said, the true power of the presidency doesn't lie in executive orders. It lies in his (or hopefully some day, her) ability to inspire people. Kennedy didn't mandate we go to the moon. He challenged us to do it and we did. That was the point of the article. It wasn't to tax and spend. It was to simply lay out a significant challenge - whatever that challenge might be - to America and let our entrepreneurs lead the way.

rayiner 14y ago

The space race was funded with tax dollars and I doubt the fees charged for commercial launches ever paid a fraction of it.

VikingCoder 14y ago
Yes, and I agree that it felt like a feel-good mission at the time. Many people theorize, and I believe correctly, that it was entirely an aggressive posturing war between the US and USSR. We could just drop a nuke from space, with no launch to detect, so no way to retaliate in time - no mutually assured destruction, which was the only real defense either party had. Don't get me wrong - I'm generally very liberal by US standards, and I think the Government should do a LOT more to "promote the general welfare". I just think that money doesn't care how you spend it, and governments can't set the kinds of goals that the OP proposes. Other than ending diseases, I suppose.
Shivetya 14y ago
and the great railroads first came from private industry as did the canals as did the airlines and so on and so on. The only reason the space race was done by government first is because they were more concerned with killing other people with the results. Face it, government rarely does something first or best except when one government wants to eradicate another.
- rayiner 14y ago
  The railroads were heavily subsidized and enabled by government. Without eminent domain authority and grants of government lands, the great railroads would never have happened. The first substantial airplane network in the U.S. was the Post Office's air mail service. Most of the existing U.S. airlines evolved from air mail contractors. Aircraft technology was heavily pushed forward by government spending in World War I and World War II. The first supersonic plane was a government project, as well as the first hypersonic plane. In other areas: The transistor was invented by the research arm of a government-granted monopoly; nuclear technology was pioneered by a government weapons project; the double helix was discovered at a publicly-funded university; we're talking to each other over a network created as a department of defense program; much of the field of artificial intelligence was developed under the department of defense. The U.S. government linked the pacific and atlantic oceans through the panama canal; the Army Corps of Engineers made the southwest habitable; the Army Corps of Engineers built and maintains the locks that makes the Mississippi easily navigable. The 20th century is a triumph of the American model: government policy-making and funding/subsidization combined with implementation by independent public or private entities.
  - spikels 14y ago
    Many of these examples are a stretch: (1) The transistor/monopoly theory make no sense. The US government never granted AT&T a monopoly but broke it up in 1982 when they discovered it was a monopoly. (2) I don't think the residents of New Orleans would agree that Army Corps of Engineers should be a model for anything. I'm sure there are some truly great non-military US government accomplishments but I just can't think of any... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Army_Corps_of_Engineers_civil_works_controversies_(New_Orleans) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Army_Corps_of_Engineers_ci...

jcdrepair 14y ago

You are most definitely correct that the President can not and should not be able to dictate any policy. That said, the true power of the presidency doesn't lie in executive orders. It lies in his (or hopefully some day, her) ability to inspire people. Kennedy didn't mandate we go to the moon. He challenged us to do it and we did. That was the point of the article. It wasn't to tax and spend. It was to simply lay out a significant challenge - whatever that challenge might be - to America and let our entrepreneurs lead the way.