Nope - as stated in our Declaration of Independence, the role of government is to secure men’s rights.
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Men have a right, as you put it, to have their ‘rights’ secure in space also. Other than that, you are thinking penny-wise and pound foolish quibbling about a few billion in a multi-trillion dollar economy.
And continue to misunderstand what role the Government actually plays. You do know that the US government played a large role in opening up the West? Perhaps it would have been better for the settlers to raise their own armies and build their own forts under corporate logos?
Corporations in space need to raise their own defenses against Russian and Chinese military space forces according to your idea. Corporations need to defend the US communications and GPS grid against all comers. I guess. It goes on ...
You are neglecting to take into consideration the huge and rapid advances in all realms of technology which came directly out of the US manned space program. While some will argue that those things would have happened anyway - which in my opinion is fanciful thinking and a weak argument.
How many more decades and centuries would it have taken absent the US space program to achieve all that we did in 10-20 years? Would all of those advances have happened in Russia or China in their space programs? What would the US look like now had the Russian and Chinese made those discoveries and advances?
Which in no way implies a "right" to force unwilling parties to pay for space activities.
Other than that, you are thinking penny-wise and pound foolish quibbling about a few billion in a multi-trillion dollar economy.
If it's such a puny amount, all the more reason to look to that multi-trillion dollar private sector to come up with it.
Corporations in space need to raise their own defenses against Russian and Chinese military space forces according to your idea. Corporations need to defend the US communications and GPS grid against all comers.
No, that's your straw man - I support defense spending wherever defense is needed.
You are neglecting to take into consideration the huge and rapid advances in all realms of technology which came directly out of the US manned space program. While some will argue that those things would have happened anyway - which in my opinion is fanciful thinking and a weak argument.
They don't have to prove it's true - if you want to pick their pockets for your pet program, you have to prove it's false, just as a first step.