Why Did We Quit Exploring?

 

Why Did We Quit Exploring?

 Only in science fiction do we walk and live on Mars, mine minerals on the moons of the gas giants, and continue to expand our knowledge of the universe.

 Men walked on the moon a half century ago using technology which is weaker and more primitive than I have in my watch, and infinitely weak and minute when compared to my smart phone.  So, what happened?  I guess the rocks they brought back and the diminishing news cycles weren’t worth the billions spent on the effort.

 Instead of the explorative and pioneering spirit that has fueled humanity in the past, and particularly fueled our American psyche, we have turned inward and now question ourselves and explore our motives.  Rather than thinking of the astronauts as heroic expanders of humanity’s horizons, we are being taught to look at them as privileged white male elites who excluded other races and genders from their ranks.

 The corrosive nature of identity politics, which strives to divide us into subgroups rather than treat us all as Americans, and then either reward or condemn these subgroups, has stifled American creativity to the point that we no longer seek the best or most qualified for a job or profession.  We look for appearance, color or gender first.  Enough of this sort of “woke” thinking, coupled with “doxxing” and “cancel culture”, is enough to keep us fully self-absorbed, and to stop thinking about exploring our universe. 

 When someone like President Donald Trump comes along, starts a “Space Force” branch of the military, and talks about exploring Mars, he is attacked by his massed political rivals as being some sort of “kook”.

 It is a shame that with the technology that we have developed over the past 50 years, that we sit here on our moribund little blue rock eschewing further exploration of other worlds.  Particularly during the incipient Biden administration, I guess we Americans will continue to tear ourselves and our history down, while the Chinese communists walk on the moon and move on to Mars.  What a theme for “An American Tragedy”

Ray Gruszecki

December 19, 2020