What the trolls on the #ResistCapitalism hashtag probably don’t realize is that all of the smart technology that goes into iPhones is a creation of socialism. And everything that Apple sells to make obscene profits (which are taxed at ridiculously low rates thanks to Apple’s cunningly evil accounting practices) was made possible by government-funded research. Even Google’s algorithm was created with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Aside from all of that, Apple as a corporation may not even exist as it does today were it not for government loans to startup businesses. The Harvard Business Review pointed out how Apple was a direct beneficiary of socialism in its earliest stages:

 [Apple] also received its early stage finance from the U.S. government’s Small Business Investment Company program. Venture capitalists entered only after government funding had gotten the company to the critical proof of concept.


None of the major components in the iPhone would have been possible without scientific breakthroughs garnered from publicly-funded research. Here are a few examples outlined in economist Mariana Mazzucato’s book, The Entreprenurial State:
1. Hard drives: The Department of Energy (DoE), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Department of Defense (DoD) built upon research already conducted by France and Germany to make hard drives, which silicon valley corporations then used to make profits.
2. Siri: The computerized voice that answers all of the questions you ask your iPhone was developed by DARPA through the Stanford Research Institute (SRI), after the government asked the university to create a “virtual office assistant.” SRI sold what would become Siri after the technology was sold to Apple in 2010.
3. Lithium-ion batteries: You can thank the DOE and the NSF for creating the long-lasting, rechargeable batteries that power our smartphones.
4. GPS location: The smartphone app that prevents you from getting lost on road trips is made possible through satellites that the U.S. Air Force spends $700 million each year maintaining. You’re welcome, America.
5. LCD display: Almost all of the funding for LCD displays came from the US Army for the Westinghouse-developed technology. The project was still incomplete and the chief scientist in charge of developing the technology still needed funding, but no tech companies offered to pony up the additional cash. So DARPA came through with another $7.8 million to help make LCD display a reality.
6. Touch screens: European socialism made it possible for you to be able to tell your phone what to do with the touch of your finger. The labs at CERN (Central European nuclear research centers) funded the research that made this technology possible.
7. Internet protocols: HTTP, HTML, and TCP/IP are all products of CERN, DARPA, and the NSF. These protocols have helped numerous companies make billions.
Anyone using the technology argument to go after people tweeting about the evils of capitalism don’t really have much of a leg to stand on, as it turns out. If you’re still not convinced, watch Mariana Mazzucato explain exactly how government research benefits the private sector in the video below: