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I would love to go to space. Untethered from the Earth, floating amongst the vast empty void that makes up most of the universe, cradled in the loving bosom of gravity. I like to think that I would thrive in such an environment. Unfortunately, ultra-rich assholes like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have ruined my dream of traveling to space. Musk has touted his failure-prone Space X project for years now, and Bezos recently made the news for announcing that he and his brother will go to space.* By making space travel the domain of the nerdy rich they’ve ruined it for the rest of us.
*The space in this case is not like the International Space Station, but crossing n imaginary line about 60 miles above the planet. It’s called the “Kármán line.” He’ll be in low-gravity for about three minutes. Sounds like a cop-out. Get in a real rocket Bezos.
Perhaps I’ve consumed too much science-fiction, but for me space has always seemed a bit like a utopian dream. The vastness and newness of space represents a freedom from the structures and systems of the Earth. Freedom from the rigid logics of capital that keep people downtrodden, free from the horrible destruction of war and economic catastrophe. Freedom to make a new life for oneself, the freedom of undiscovered areas. In many ways the continued privatization of space travel and space exploration has popped this bubble of naivety I’ve had about space. Of course, I should have seen this coming. Those same sci-fi pieces I’ve mentioned earlier had some of the same warnings. The Empire in Star Wars, the continuation of capitalism in Hyperion, the rigid class systems of Red Rising, the genocidal actions in Ender’s Game. The list goes on and on. Even the U.S.’s own history should have destroyed any idealistic dreams I had about space travel. Our space program was not built out of a wide-eyed love of exploration and thrill of discovery, but out of Cold War-era realpolitik, and ex-Nazi scientists. The U.S. space program does not have the purest of foundations or intentions. While there are certainly inspiring stories to come out of it, the political, economic, and cultural goals of the United States have also informed and intruded in the project in many insidious ways. The same is undoubtedly true for other nation’s space programs. But for a while I’ve held on to the dream of space exploration as a sort of leveler, something that would eventually allow for the destruction of all that is bad in the world.
The loss of this utopian goal hasn’t been that devastating to me. I don’t want to overstate anything. I am not suffering from crippling depression or anything like that. No need to worry about me. But it is always a little uncomfortable to recognize certain truths. When Musk and Bezos, two billionaires that profited enormously off the pandemic, make statements that they either can’t think of anything else to do with their money, or that they want to recreate indentured servitude but on Mars, it makes me a little ill. There are millions of beneficial things that could be down with their money here on Earth, and yet they refuse to do anything to help. Heck, even the money they’ve made since the U.S. lockdown could go a long way to solving world hunger, or providing healthcare for all, or whatever. And yet it’s being used so that some guy can go really high up in the sky for a little bit. Not great.
I, of course don’t want to advocate for the abandonment of all space research/travel. There is a strain of leftism that argues that space exploration should be scuttled until all our problems here on Earth are solved. I may be overstating that argument a little bit, but not by much. I certainly think that the world’s wealth should be redistributed and focused on preventing climate change/Green New Deal type policies, as well as constructing new socialist polices/governments. But I also think that a strong space exploration program is an important thing to fund.
This next part is going to read a little weird, I think. I haven’t written it yet, but even just thinking through it I can tell it’s going to go off the usual rails. Maybe it’s because I’m listening to Rush while I write it. Who knows. But space is important. Not on like a political/scientific level, but a baser level. Exploration, I think, is part of what it means to be human. Discovering new things, going new places. The thrill of discovery is one of the biggest rushes and greatest unifiers of humanity. Discovering a new favorite place with your parents, going to a new restaurant with your partner, being introduced to a new favorite song by a pal, these all rule, and serve to help bring people together. Space exploration does this on a larger level. Done the right way it can unite the world. At least for a little bit.
Of course, “the right way,” is doing a lot of work in that last sentence. Space exploration would have to be decoupled from national budgets and national interests, which seems like it won’t happen for a very long time. Classified technologies, resource-heavy utilizations, and lack of opportunities all severely limit the ability of people to participate or even be aware of new developments in this world. Truly revolutionary space exploration would allow for equal access to all who are willing and able. It would require a reinvention of the goals of groups like NASA. The benefits of such a truly radical approach would of course be huge. But even if humans fail to achieve space exploration on a large level the attempt I think would be beneficial. An understanding of what science, and a simple love for the starts can do for groups of people would be one of the better things to happen in the history of the world.
I’ll end this by saying that sometimes I like to look at the stars. I usually have to leave Chicago to do so. But when I do I imagine myself millions of light-years away, looking upon some majesties of other alien cultures long dead. It’s that imagination, those flights of fancy that I think we’ve lost sight of. The value of imagining new and better worlds. So next time you get a chance to take a peek at the stars. Do so. And imagine yourself on one. It’ll do you a world of good.
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