> I'm largely a social democrat, but LOL if you think the government would be even a quarter as competent as Google at pushing technology forward.

> Just read any description from people who've worked at both normal government IT shops (really anywhere that's not 18F or the USDS) and private industry how they feel about governmental technology culture and processes.

The governments brought us MP3. (Fraunhofer is funded entirely by their own patents and the German government).

The governments brought us many more technologies, standards, algorithms, etc.

Alone the projects funded by the German government have brought more to the tech world than Google ever has, or ever will.

Then look at the projects the US has funded.

For fucks sake, the US Government gave us the Internet!

This. But of course US Americans (including foreigners living there long enough) will just interpret the World according to the usual equation: US == World. It's not your fault guys and we love you the way you're wired, but for god's sake, could you sometimes consider there's some form of Intelligent Life outside of your borders?

You're assuming our current goods and ills are somehow inherent. This is what happens when people don't study history.

Luckily for the government, Google's innovation in mass surveillance helps them fill in the gaps.

I'm largely a X, but I will now proceed to say something that is totally the opposite of what X stands for.

:)