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in the famous photo taken almost accidentally from the moon (pointed back toward Earth), that the people of the world began to realize just how vulnerable life on our planet is. The environmental movement is arguably dated from that photo--or at least much more widespread consciousness of the need to protect our little "bubble" of life.
Until that moment, there really was not widespread understanding of ecology. That photo said it all. I remember that moment. I lived through it. Environmentalists were still considered "kooks" at that time. That is the truth. I remember that era well. Environmentalism was in its infancy, as a movement. This is very important to understand. The moon shot, and especially that amazing photograph, changed how we view ourselves, radically altered consciousness, and put the human race on Earth, and life on Earth, into stark perspective, against the vast black lonely emptiness of space. (It may not be all that empty--as we have very recently learned--but it sure felt like it then). Although our Corporate Rulers have prevented effective protection of the environment, it is now the common view--way up there in the 80% range, in polls--that the environment must be protected. That was not the case in 1969. That photo of the Earth changed peoples' view of the Earth, on a massive scale. It was worth every penny spent on the Apollo program just for that one photo!
A colony on the moon, and/or the achievement of human beings traveling to Mars, would be momentous events, without parallel in human history, except for the initial moon walk in 1969. Yes, it would be expensive. Yes, it would take mobilization of our society. But it is just not correct--as to history and human psychology--to pit one against the other: either repair Planet Earth, or go to Mars. Going to Mars may well result in our ability to overthrow our Corporate Rulers and actually save Planet Earth. And we could do it with only a fraction of what we are utterly wasting on killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people to steal their oil.
I am personally convinced that the Apollo program was an early effort, instigated by JFK, to bend our military budget to peaceful purposes. James Douglass' book, "JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters," makes very clear that JFK was on a path to world peace, and was initiating nuclear disarmament, backchannel contacts with Krushchev and Castro, and the end of "Cold War" conflicts in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, and was taking many other actions aimed at world peace, when he was cut down (--and Douglass maintains, very convincingly, that this is why he was killed). Douglass doesn't mention it, but I believe the space program was part and parcel of that effort. And I think it could be today, as well. Politicians have the immense problem of the "military-industrial complex," which snakes in and out of our society and our economy like an evil octopus, with tentacles into all our lives. Our Founders never intended us to have a "standing army"--let alone this massive war machine, such a temptation to tyrants and corporations. It is not easily dismantled. What better use for those massive dollars than to inspire humanity once again with our place in the Universe, by taking a second photo, of the Earth, from the far, far reaches of Mars? It would be worth every penny, believe me. And it is not incompatible with saving Planet Earth; on the contrary, it could well move us to do so.
We need higher aspirations than cornering the world's last oil supplies. We need hope. We need creativity and initiative. We desperately need perspective--new understanding of the Universe and our place in it. And, not incidentally, we need to learn terraforming (how to create and re-create living ecologies). We have, in fact, destroyed Planet Earth, as it was--the matrix from which we evolved. If the human race is to continue--and some measure of biological diversity and ecological balance restored--it is going to be the result of our intelligence and technology (ironical as that is). People are simply not going to revert to a pastoral lifestyle, except by force of catastrophe. There are too many of us. Most of us are too dependent on the perks of "civilization." And the damage to our planet, over just the last 100 years, has been enormous. It could lead to despair and inaction. We need a motivator. Planting human feet on Mars could be that motivator--could pull us together, could elicit vast creativity and new understanding. It's comparable to the building of the cathedrals in the Middle Ages, and the pyramids in Egypt, and the creation of Alexandria and its Library, and the construction of the Brooklyn and Golden Gate bridges, and the other monumental efforts of a society to assert itself into the far future. We, as a society, need a higher goal than repair of our fouled nest, in order to energize us to do what we must do here. That is what I see in our psychology as a People. That is who we are. You cannot force us to be otherwise, because it would make sense (to repair Planet Earth first, then think of space). It would be like telling Dylan Thomas to first stop drinking, then write poetry. Ain't gonna happen. Our people are drugged up on technology and its objects. That is not going to change. So put it to good use.
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