Government supported industry and extended-Enlightenment thinking
(relevant quotes in bold)

From 'Science the Endless Frontier', (the founding document of the 
NSF, ARPA, DARPA, etc), 1945, Vannevar Bush

Franklin D. Roosevelt
THE WHITE HOUSE
  Washington, D. C.
  November 17, 1944

DEAR DR. BUSH: 

The Office of Scientific Research and Development, of which you are the Director, 
represents a unique experiment of team-work and cooperation in coordinating 
scientific research and in applying existing scientific knowledge to the solution 
of the technical problems paramount in war. 

...

There is, however, no reason why the lessons to be found in this experiment cannot 
be profitably employed in times of peace.  The information, the techniques, and 
the research experience developed by the Office of Scientific Research and Development 
and by the thousands of scientists in the universities and in private industry, 
should be used in the days of peace ahead for the improvement of the national health, 
the creation of new enterprises bringing new jobs, and the betterment of the national 
standard of living.

...

First: What can be done, consistent with military security, and with the prior approval 
of the military authorities, to make known to the world as soon as possible the 
contributions which have been made during our war effort to scientific knowledge?

New frontiers of the mind are before us, and if they are pioneered with the same vision, 
boldness, and drive with which we have waged this war we can create a fuller and 
more fruitful employment and a fuller and more fruitful life.

...

creativity, freedom, free collaboration, self-actualization:

Vannevar Bush:

...

It should recognize that freedom of inquiry must be preserved and should leave 
internal control of policy, personnel, and the method and scope of research to the 
institutions in which it is carried on.

...


Freedom of Inquiry Must Be Preserved

The publicly and privately supported colleges, universities, and research institutes 
are the centers of basic research. They are the wellsprings of knowledge and 
understanding. As long as they are vigorous and healthy and their scientists 
are free to pursue the truth wherever it may lead, there will be a flow of new 
scientific knowledge to those who can apply it to practical problems in Government, 
in industry, or elsewhere.

Many of the lessons learned in the war-time application of science under Government 
can be profitably applied in peace. The Government is peculiarly fitted to perform 
certain functions, such as the coordination and support of broad programs on problems 
of great national importance. But we must proceed with caution in carrying over the 
methods which work in wartime to the very different conditions of peace. We must 
remove the rigid controls which we have had to impose, and recover freedom of inquiry 
and that healthy competitive scientific spirit so necessary for expansion of 
the frontiers of scientific knowledge.

Scientific progress on a broad front results from the free play of free intellects, 
working on subjects of their own choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity 
for exploration of the unknown. Freedom of inquiry must be preserved under any plan 
for Government support of science ...

...

eschew elitism:

There are talented individuals in every segment of the population, but with few 
exceptions those without the means of buying higher education go without it. Here 
is a tremendous waste of the greatest resource of a nation - the intelligence of 
its citizens.

...

free and open source:

Publication Should Be Encouraged

...

environments

[public institutions] are charged with the responsibility of conserving the knowledge 
accumulated by the past, imparting that knowledge to students, and contributing new 
knowledge of all kinds. It is chiefly in these institutions that scientists may work 
in an atmosphere which is relatively free from the adverse pressure of convention, 
prejudice, or commercial necessity. At their best they provide the scientific worker 
with a strong sense of solidarity and security, as well as a substantial degree of 
personal intellectual freedom. All of these factors are of great importance in the 
development of new knowledge, since much of new knowledge is certain to arouse 
opposition because of its tendency to challenge current beliefs or practice.

Industry is generally inhibited by preconceived goals, by its own clearly defined 
standards, and by the constant pressure of commercial necessity. Satisfactory progress 
in basic science seldom occurs under conditions prevailing in the normal industrial 
laboratory. There are some notable exceptions, it is true, but even in such cases it 
is rarely possible to match the universities in respect to the freedom which is so 
important to scientific discovery.

Selections by Greg Bryant