True, but if emotional and intellectual satisfaction are the only selling points to using humans, then it’s entertainment, which shouldn’t need to be funded by the taxpayers.
Coliseums, Amphitheaters and Stadiums have been funded by taxpayers as long as there have been taxpayers.
:-)
(People will more readily approve the expenditure of 'public funds' for Entertainment' than they will for 'Education, Information & Enlightenment'!)