Thanks to Elon Musk, the length of time between now and when the average private citizen can travel to space on his or her own dime has just halved.
Markets do certain things well, and better than the public sector ever can (though I agree that the public sector is vitally important and regulation is needed). One is encourage competition so that prices for once extremely-expensive goods and services can drop rapidly. The market doesn't discriminate against evil, sure, and of course there will be abuses by mega-corporations looking to mine space for its vast natural resources. But the market also doesn't discriminate against good uses of space.
Elon Musk is helping us because what he has done will eventually let all of us into space, the good and the bad among us. To me that is a fairly democratic accomplishment.
Markets do certain things well, and better than the public sector ever can (though I agree that the public sector is vitally important and regulation is needed). One is encourage competition so that prices for once extremely-expensive goods and services can drop rapidly. The market doesn't discriminate against evil, sure, and of course there will be abuses by mega-corporations looking to mine space for its vast natural resources. But the market also doesn't discriminate against good uses of space.
Elon Musk is helping us because what he has done will eventually let all of us into space, the good and the bad among us. To me that is a fairly democratic accomplishment.