• Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    17 hours ago

    The competition between the communist USSR and the capitalist USA is what got us there that fast. Seeing how most capitalists seem to have a burning hatred for fundamental research, and the space race wasn’t directly profitable, I’m not sure capitalism alone would have got us there even by now.

    • Saapas@piefed.zip
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      17 hours ago

      Corporations benefit from research, including space research. I bet we’d achieved moon landing with or without either ideology, just with slower pace. But in this case it’s capitalists only who got to the moon.

      • blitzen@lemmy.ca
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        12 hours ago

        Insomuch as America was (is?) nominally a capitalistic country. But seeing as the space race was funded with taxpayer dollars, and not private corporations seeking a return on their investments, doesn’t really feel right ascribing the success of the space race to “capitalism.”

        • Saapas@piefed.zip
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          12 hours ago

          Capitalist countries have government involved in the economy. Nothing specific about capitalism or socialism got any of those achievements anyway, but if one is congratulated for the achievements you have to do the other too. Personally I’d just say it was the countries involved and not the ideologies who achieved those things.

      • Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        15 hours ago

        They sure do. Just like they, and society as a whole, benefit from fundamental research in general. But since the end goal of fundamental research is “only” knowledge, they never want to properly fund it (and usually cry about their taxes funding it too).

        Scientists got to the moon. Capitalism simply had a massive incentive to make their scientists achieve it first at the time and actually gave them the required level of funding to achieve it.

        • Saapas@piefed.zip
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          15 hours ago

          I’m fine with not ascribing that achievement to either economic model or ideology. It happened within those systems but mostly just as a way for the two countries to compete. If it was two socialist states or two capitalist states that had a heated rivalry you might see the exact same thing.