I have heard this morning on two different TV network "news" programs this meme (for want of a better word): 'The achievements of John Glenn proved to the world that the US system could compete and win against the Soviet system in space programs' (this is a paraphrase, but is very near a quotation).

The only problem is that the US "system" did not "match" or "exceed" the Soviet "system. The US space program mimicked the Soviet program. The US program was a government program paid for and supported by public funding - in imitation of the Soviet system. Free enterprise did not match the Soviet system, a socialistic program did. It is like Social Security and Medicare - these are not "free enterprise" programs, they are socialistic programs instituted to counter the much, much better social services of the Soviet Union. The US bourgeoisie saw that letting old folks die of starvation and neglect on the sidewalks was not good for business, so they imitated socialist systems with stop-gap programs. The same is true of the "space program". It was government run, government funded, government controlled - "private enterprise" had almost nothing to do with it. And since the government dropped the program, space exploration has become a dead letter - except where US "astronauts" can ride along as hitch-hikers with the Russians.

Funny how almost all the "heroes" the network "news" can dredge up to worship all seem to have their "heroism" couched in socialistic endeavors.