MattParker said:
Could I suggest that you are trying to paint a picture of American business with one brush, a big wide brush that covers over all the blemishes that even a master carpenter sometimes leaves in what is constructed.
A big part of the business world indeed works in self-sustaining market conditions where Capitalism mixed with Darwinian concepts gives us a robust standard of living.
Our civilization and our power of government has tried to give commercial broadcasting that kind of playground in which to work.
And even hard-core conservatives who bow to the picture of Ronald Reagan hanging in their entryway every morning on their way to work have to come face to face with the concept that some useful and desired activities that our people like and consider part of their lifestyle can not function as stand alone economic organisms.
Disney demonstrated that an amusement park can work as a business. I have never heard a group of business people who were standing in line for the opportunity to operate something on the order of our state and national park systems.
Pharmaceutical companies love to bring us rock-star prescription drugs. But even then that system works only if the government gives them a big subsidy called the Patent Law. The common day-to-day ailments that kill people daily in the third-world go unchallenged because the free-enterprise system will not reward the industry for coming up with an economical drug to overcome these low grade plagues. We are beholden to Jimmy Carter for bringing together charitable groups to conquer the Guinea Worm in Africa. Today we watch at Bill and Melinda Gates and people like Warren Buffett put up charitable money and talk governments into matching grants to solve similar problems. Capitalist based free-enterprise business looks at these things and says, "Nice project but we have no business model that can do that. Here, we will write you a small check from our Charitable Account. Go knock yourself out."
Free enterprise has not figured out how to wrap their arms around Ethanol.... at least not yet.
So maybe in the world of providing audio and video content of certain types for a certain targeted audiences will always need government funding. It also needs for government to be a good and proper parent and make sure Public Broadcasting is meeting the needs of the target audiences, not just the audience that will write a check at pledge time.
Some day maybe the young, not-yet-steady-on-it's-feet airline industry will be able to provide passenger service in small and medium travel markets without a Federal subsidy.
At a lecture last night I learned that some state colleges and universities no long receive state funding. How is that for progress, friends of Ayn Rand.
