…built their airplane largely with spruce and muslin, wood that could have been used to build you a house and fabric that could have been used to clothe your children, or at least make flour sacks. They also used a gasoline powered engine, helping to kick off the climate-change crisis we find ourselves in.
But on balance, their project turned out pretty well.
And history is replete with explorers and adventurers who forged a way into the unknown on other people's money.
All this comes to mind with the current spate of sniping over Jeff Bezos' recent mini-trip into just-barely space. Yes, it's a little annoying to watch a billionaire pursue his private dreams with money that, as tax revenue, could have been used for all sorts of salutary things. (Or just as easily squandered on some pork-barrel project in Podunk.) But still. Maybe this is the start of something big.
Time will tell.
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