I have a strong cynical streak (that I call realism) that can at times make me a little depressed about our prospects. Watching how partisan politics have become, the booming financial toll that the baby boomers (myself one of them) will take on society as we age, illegal immigration, rapid technological change without the social understanding of their impacts, disappearing natural resources and the rise of nuclear proliferation in the hands of people who will use them can make one a little leery of tomorrow.
My pollyanna side though is still waiting for the better tomorrow. The one where we build the lunar colony, mine the asteroid belt, study the possibility of faster then light travel, explore the bottom of the ocean, eradication of many deadly diseases and a computer that I can just talk to and it does what I want. A mix of the beginning of Star Trek and the silver age Legion of Super Heroes. Camelot with adventure and danger, but with a future that still allows its people to live in a prosperous and safe haven if adventure is not in your soul.
I'm still waiting for that tomorrow and I think one day it will come. I hope.
I hope we can get past tribalism, I hope we can look past profit and understand money is not a goal, I hope we can help each other with out fear of the legal repercussions if something does not go right. I hope that my children have a better world then I do and I hope we understand ownership is an illusion.
I think I'm a little more upbeat and hopeful today because after your sick and you start feeling better everything can seem better at that time.
So here is to waiting for tomorrow and watching the first manned mars mission launch in my lifetime.
Of course it would be really cool if what we found on Mars was:
I really hope Mars is just like that! I wish I lived on Barsoom =/
ReplyDeleteWell, I think you should forget about Mars and hope we put more of our efforts at home here on Earth. It bugs the hell out of me that certain people get all bent out of shape when we go to Iraq and overthrow a brutal dictator who was torturing, killing and abusing his people yet these same people decry America for not doing enough to stop Aids in Africa or stopping the violence in Darfur. Hypocrites.
ReplyDeleteScrew the stars, focus on the US. We needs help big time. Every day 37 million americans go hungry. 17 million of those are children. This is unacceptable and should be taken care of well before another billion is spent on space exploration. We can handle buying and delivering foodstuffs, we ain't so good at the space thing.
Did you know that scientists now believe that when we first sent a probe to Mars there was in fact life there, but we accidently killed that life with our probe? Way to go guys. And every time they can't launch a shuttle due to weather it costs us millions that could be put to better use feeding our people. The number of botched space missions is staggering. Do some research some day and you'll be amazed that our supposed Best Minds are such dumbasses. They have forgotten to switch from metric to standard and also built a probe with the plans inversed. Morons!!
I too look for a brighter day. I want to see us go back to being more friendly toward one another and less self-involved. Throw all the cell phones into a deep crevasse and go back to small talk and conversation instead of text messages and constant blathering away on your Bluetooth headset. And don't get me started on the way the gov't protects big business like that damn Microsoft and their evil Vista upgrade. Sons of bitches!!!
Good points about the space program, Jeff. I think at this point it is best to leave it in the hands of private companies.
ReplyDeleteNot that I don't want mankind to reach the stars - I just think they'll be reached faster in the hands of private enterprise rather than government incompetency.
Arielle---
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. Whenever there's a buck to made progress comes quickly. Imagine if AT&T had been first to the moon......sure, they would probably have claimed the land for themselves and we'd now be seeing advertising for the latest calling plan whenever we looked skyward at night, but we'd probably also have colonies of phone employees living up there too.
I grew up during the Mercury, Gemini and Appolo missions. There have always been agruements that we should focus on home, but the fallout from the space program brought a lot of benefits that may never have been realized otherwise. Also I believe a role for government is to set a tone for the future.
ReplyDeleteThe greatest benefit the space program ever gave mankind was Tang. Can't get no Tang around here no more. So much for the boons of NASA.
ReplyDeleteAlso started tranistors and the whole smaller and smaller craze. The fallout in medicine and other fields is also actually pretty great. Back in the day the government used to fund a lot more pure research. We were on the edge of the final war and on the edge of exploring the last frontier.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth going there again.
You know - the space program has been making progress. The International Space Station orbits Earth even now as a reminder that not only have we not given up on the stars - but also that in space there is hope for mankind... a kind of hope that's harder to see from ground level. In 2010 the space shuttles will be grounded - why? Because NASA is designing a better shuttle - the Orion - to replace them. The Orion will be used for docking at the space station among other things.
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