"Without Government, Google and Facebook would not exist" - Obama

times247.com ^ | Fred Lucas

[Iam1ru1-2]

President Barack Obama insisted ... that without government spending, “Google, Facebook would not exist.”

(snip)

“I believe in investing in basic research and science because I understand that all these extraordinary companies ... many of them would have never been there; Google, Facebook would not exist, had it not been for investments that we made as a country in basic science and research,” Obama said.

[Thom Pain]

Without Google and Facebook Obama wouldn’t exist!

[cripplecreek]

If they can’t exist without government, maybe they shouldn’t exist at all.

[Doogle]

Omoron

[hattend]

Good point!

[hattend]

Obama created or saved Google and Facebook

[the invisib1e hand]

Without Google and Facebook Obama wouldn’t exist!

Well, your idea -- quite valid on its own -- preempted mine a bit, which was: "and someday it will be the other way around."

[the invisib1e hand]

If they can’t exist without government, maybe they shouldn’t exist at all.

but government needs them. is he being really candid or was it a freudian slip?

[Don Corleone]

Without Google and Facebook Obama wouldn’t exist!

And ALgore invented the internet. We owe everything to Government. Sooner or later anyway if the debt keeps piling up.

[Uncle Ike]

(with apologies to Voltaire)

If Google and Facebook did not exist, the Obama Government would have to invent them...

[AnotherUnixGeek]

“I believe in investing in basic research and science because I understand that all these extraordinary companies ... many of them would have never been there; Google, Facebook would not exist, had it not been for investments that we made as a country in basic science and research,” Obama said.

Well, Google and Facebook certainly couldn't exist without the HTTP protocol, but that was developed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in Switzerland. The Internet certainly is based on research done by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Dept. of Defense - but military research isn't the kind of government spending Obama champions and defends.

So who knows what Obama is talking about. One thing's certain - Google and Facebook don't exist because of any half billion dollar government "green energy" loans.

[RobbyS]

Google and Facebook would not exist if they had to depend on government scientists to do the development. Ironically, the owners of the companies are big libs, because nothing the government does threatens the lifestyle they now enjoy, but may throttle in the crib many young entrepreneurs as able as themselves.

[eglman]

He might be right for once http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/archivos_pdf/google-cia-nsa-connection.pdf

[bgill]

Algore invented the internet.

[xuberalles]

And without Marx, Obama wouldn't exist! Gov't has but two fundamental duties: to protect the rights of the people, and to provide transparency in all it does. Obama fails on both accounts, but gets an "A" for Marxist Theory & Practice.

[jongaltsr]

No thanks to you A—hole.
Google and Facebook are products of CAPITALISTS.
(I personally don’t like Google or Facebook) because they take my information and use it or sell it to third parties.)

If you don’t care than go right ahead and use them. It is a free world and (about) the worst thing that can happen is you get spammed. If you give out to much info then things could start to get ugly because there are sharks out there that are always looking for the innocent and outright suckers.

[jongaltsr]

Clarification - I am referring to OBAMA as the A-Hole.

[Anita1]

CORRECTION: Google and Facebook exist IN SPITE of O!!!

If it were up to him - he would have Regulated and Taxed them to Death Before their start!!

[super7man]

As I recall, he said the same thing about “Tickle-me-Elmo” in 2008.

[The_Reader_David]

This is an example of the stopped clock phenomenon.

The internet would not exist (or at least would have been created much later and be at a much less developed state than it now is) were it not for government:

• The backbone of the internet grew from the ARPA-net, developed by DOD's ARPA (now DARPA).
• Most of the early file-transmission protocols (like Gopher and FTP) were developed at state universities.
• The basis of the shift that turned the primitive internet into the world wide web was laid at CERN (funded by the Swiss government).

The fact that there are a few salutary roles for government in promoting economic growth besides providing a stable currency and fairly enforcing contracts -- in this instance promoting applied research and development when it is far from commercial viability, but also including promoting basic research, creating utility easements, acquiring rights-of-way for transportation infrastructure, providing postal service, and a few others -- cannot be taken as indicating government, rather than the private sector, is the engine of economic growth, as Obama would foolishly argue.

The argument against the statist position must be that state action is salutary only in circumstances where the market does not operate effectively (e.g. to support research very far from commercial application, or in utility-like circumstances where a natural monopoly must be created and regulated), but these are far and few between, and not the norm in commercial activity.