Nobody in the European startup world talks about the historical role of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) in the development of Silicon Valley. DARPA was founded by Eisenhower in response to the launch of Sputnik and injected even more government funds into an area that had already been a hotspot for military radar research during WWII. A large country like Germany would have to go to war to reproduce something like that in Europe, and you do NOT want Germany at war.
@artsyhonker I don't need war to justify the expenditure. Governments do. Technology advances at a tremendous pace during wartime. It did in the UK, US and Germany during WWII. It did in the US during the Cold War and the Space Race. Developing new technologies is tremendously expensive. Developing high tech at a rapid pace is something only governments can afford, and only during wartime can they justify such expense to the taxpayers.
@artsyhonker Had the United States sustained the same level of funding to NASA as they did during the Space Race, we'd probably have space colonies by now, or some other insane thing. Humans could only go to the moon at the time they did because tremendous amounts of money went into it. Everything moves at a much slower pace during peacetime. You can bet you'd see some pretty crazy levels of innovation if there was a WWIII.
Granted, when Germany went to war the last time, they invented the jet fighter, the assault rifle, the ballistic missile and the tape recorder, but again, you do not want Germany at war.
@thor why do you need the war to justify the expenditure?
Serious question.