re: #14 Buck

“Yes but it is not in a vacuum” is trying to have it both ways.

Actually, it’s recognizing that other people help us along the way. As Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”

It is like saying that the winner of the race didn’t win as an individual. After all someone made the track and the shoes.

Let’s add more to your (s***ty) analogy: the coaches, the endorsers, the doctors.

The coaches that have trained you during your life. They gave you the knowledge to help you succeed.

The endorsers pay the winner so he could dedicate his time to train, and not split it with a full time job to keep up his family.

The doctors do all in their hands to keep the winner healthy, so he can compete and win.

It’s not just track and shoes: there’s a whole system build to help the track winner succeed.

Getting back to the business, the government supplies a whole infrastructure to help them succeed. Yes, there will be Solyndras, but there will be Googles, and Apples, and Microsofts, and Baens, and Carla’s Sweets that benefit from this infrastructure.