I saw this comment elsewhere:
It's kinda rich seeing conservatives try to ding government for not being innovative, since this is the same crowd still screaming about Solyandra. But there's a reason that the nation's top innovation hub is nestled in one of the nation's highest-taxed regions, in California's Silicon Valley. And it's no accident that the second biggest tech hub is in New York's Silicon Alley, another high-tax region.Technological innovation needs certain things to operate smoothly: world class educational institutions, modern infrastructure, cultural amenities, a regulatory framework that allows for venture capital to flow smoothly (both financial regulations to protect investors and entrepreneurs, and a legal system to litigate disputes), and a culture of tolerance, creativity, and collaboration antithetical to selfish conservatism. Isn't that what progressivism is all about? Changing the rules of the game to improve our society? Conservatism, by its inherent nature, abhors change and disruption. I mean, why else would they fight to the death to protect the fossil fuel energy industry?
And that's why the Apples, Facebooks, Instagrams and pretty much anything else that's cool flows out of California and not Mississippi.