Comment by redeux

Can they? The US government has spent more on, and done more to advance space travel and exploration than Musk can ever hope to. The CDC completely eliminated malaria and other mosquito born illnesses in the US, amongst many other things. Gates has done nothing comparable. If you look at every billionaire’s pet projects you’ll find governments that have already done and are doing more. What billionaires lack is oversight and what they have in spades is budget and incentives to spend on PR to make themselves look good while doing little. As an average person, I’d rather governments did these things than have to put up with billionaires class who get less done while talking about it more.