Subject:
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Re: And now for something completely different...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 4 Mar 2003 19:51:42 GMT
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Viewed:
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394 times
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> "Well look at it from another point of view. We still have messes to clean
> up from ejecting the Moors. What can an expedition to China do that would
> make such an expenditure worthwhile? Let Columbus help solve the problems
> here in Spain first" - Ferdinand (or was it Isabella)
>
> That was the wrong viewpoint. 100 years later it was clear that funding
> exploration was the right thing to do.
Umm.. Excuse me? You mean Columbus who kidnapped a native child to bring back
as a trophy to his queen? You mean the discovery that launch the largest
genocide in the history of humanity? The destruction of so many cultures and
people that we don't even know all of their names. The enslavement and
destruction of the Incas and Aztecs?
Not to mention that the sudden inflow of gold and silver from Peru sent the
Spanish economy into the gutters, an injury that Spain is only beginning to
pull itself out of.
100 years later it was the right thing to do? Personally, I'd be questioning
that decision 500 years later.. even if America is my home now. It WAS someone
else's home.. know they're dead.. somehow I can't think of that as being
justified.
> "A canal in Sault Ste. Marie? I'd rather see a canal built on the moon
> first" - Henry Clay (paraphrased... http://www.baylisslib.org/chipcanal.html )
>
> That was the wrong viewpoint. 50 years later millions of tons of ore a year
> went through that very canal and you, if you live in the US, have steel made
> from some of that Minnestota ore in your house, for sure.
>
> But more fundamentally, the very idea of spending money to "solve" social
> problems instead of investing it is why you have social problems in the
> first place. Do you eat your seed corn too?
That's not what i meant. What I meant was building self-sufficient
infrastructure down HERE. Like school and education.. which is proven to be
amazingly helpful. Recently I've heard that for every dollar spent on higher
education, it yield 9 dollars in the future. I live in Florida, and a billion
dollars to help fund our poor education system would be very helpful.
And that;s just the first thing I thought of. I'm sure a whole host of poorly
funded groups working for the betterment of humankind could find some good uses
for losts of money.
> Please provide a cite for why a colony (which is not what I'm talking about,
> I don't want some ISS writ large... I'm talking about an industrial
> infrastructure that supports itself) would necessarily cost trillions, or
> even cost more than it would return.
Hmm.. I can't provide a CITE, but I know that transporting materials into space
is very expensive.. something like $100 a pound. Industrial Infrastructure..
last i heard.. was pretty heavy. I've heard the ISS costs 100 billion to make
(http://www.esa.int/export/esaHS/ESAQHA0VMOC_iss_0.html). And all it does is
look at stars and measure things. An industrial complex would surely cost much
more. Supporting itself, while sounding good, is something that would come
after an amazing initial investment.
Cost more than it would return? The word here is 'would.' Maybe, if, possibly.
There is a risk. A risk that the whole thing won't blow up in liftoff, or
worse. I'm not saying it's a bad idea forever, just as far as my radar can
see. I don't think we should just take every red cent and buy food food food
to feed starving people (as you seem to imply) but to build renewable food
sources that will last.
And lastly, I mentioned a colony because that's what I thought was being talked
about. there seemed to be a lack of clarity.
_lenny
ps. you seem to come off pretty bitter.. i hope you don't take all this to be
personal.
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