On the contrary. I think arguably the advances that have made people's lives better over the last century have been collective, more centrally planned efforts, not driven by profit, and done in spite of the attitudes of big business and the market.
I am thinking specifically of public sanitation, public health works, winning World War II (what a boost to the economy that was), public education; most, if not all, beneficial scientific advances. Most technology "developed" by business has been largely offshoots of collective efforts (eg NASA).
But come to think of it, most that was pretty damned unsexy too :).
Although I agree with the main thesis, I must point out something that muddles matters: if we hadn't had massively subsidized highways, cars would not have been so ubiquitous in postwar America.
I happen to think that this supports the libertarian side, since a government powerful enough to build something of that scope will be vulnerable to lobbyists who want it to build something useful to their industry.
I agree the point of subsidised highway system encourages popularity of automobiles in America.
This also means when government's involvement distorts the market mechanism, the consequence of suburban sprawls, huge consumption of oil will creep in one day. If the government did not try to build too many highways, maybe we will not waste so much of natural resources, right?
All your examples only became possible because of a vibrant, unplanned economy. Wealthy, productive people can afford sanitation, public health works, war victories, education, and scientific advances.
Wait, winning a war is one of the triumphs of central planning? How many wars have been fought directly by non-governments? And isn't that like saying that one of the triumphs of dictatorships is how much life improved after Stalin and Hitler died?
I am thinking specifically of public sanitation, public health works, winning World War II (what a boost to the economy that was), public education; most, if not all, beneficial scientific advances. Most technology "developed" by business has been largely offshoots of collective efforts (eg NASA).
But come to think of it, most that was pretty damned unsexy too :).