The specified range is VAST, let alone deep On Jul 21, 11:28 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > You should delve deeper and apply basic economics as well. > Regard$, > --MJ"The fatal attraction of government is that it allows busybodies to > impose decisions on others without paying any price themselves. That enables > them to act as if there were no price, even when there are ruinous prices > paid by others" -- economist Thomas Sowell.At 10:53 AM 7/21/2011, you > wrote:From smoke detectors to chromosomes, this dude is a dunce. > On Jul 21, 10:16 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > Space Program Was Our Biggest Bridge to Nowhereby Gene HealyThis article > > appeared inThe DC Examineron July 12, 2011.Friday marked the space > > shuttle's swan song, as the Atlantis lifted off from the Kennedy Space > > Center for the program's 135th and final flight. > > It was President George W. Bush who announced the shuttle's retirement with > > his 2004 "Vision for Space Exploration," which included a moon base and > > "human missions to Mars and to worlds beyond." But it was President Obama > > who put the kibosh on that vision, canceling the moon project and leaving > > "worlds beyond" in doubt. > > "We are retiring the shuttle in favor of nothing," Michael Griffin, Bush's > > NASA administrator, wailed to theWashington Postrecently. > > Here, as usual, "nothing" gets a bad rap. I'll be "in favor of nothing" > > until the advocates of federally funded spaceflight can come up with an > > argument for it that doesn't make me spray coffee out my nose. > > Outside of avoiding the hypothetical horror of Martian gulags, what does > > the ordinary taxpayer get from the space program? > > NASA's Griffin failed that test in 2005, when he gave an interview to > > theWashington Postinsisting it was essential that "Western values" > > accompany those who eventually "colonize the solar system," because "we > > know the kind of society we would get if you, for example, carry Soviet > > values. That means you want a gulag on Mars. Is that what you're looking > > for?"Well ... is it, punk? > > Outside of avoiding the hypothetical horror of Martian gulags, what does > > the ordinary taxpayer get from the space program? > > Not much, says Robin Hanson, a George Mason University economist and > > research associate at Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute: The benefits > > are "mostly like the pyramids national prestige and being part of history." > > Space partisans often point to the alleged technological breakthroughs that > > come from solving hard problems like keeping humans alive in an environment > > never meant to sustain them. > > But, as Hanson points out, you could get similar technological boons from > > any ambitious project you convince the feds to spray money at whether it's > > robot butlers or floating cities. If we wanted to, we could surely "find > > other projects with larger direct payoffs." > > The argument for federally funded spaceflight ultimately boils down to > > "spacecraft as soulcraft," the quasi-religious notion that, as Post > > columnist Charles Krauthammer puts it, we go "not for practicality," but > > "for the wonder and the glory of it." > > Space must be an alluring muse indeed, given that it makes Krauthammer, > > normally a hardheaded neoconservative, sound like a yoga instructor gone > > lightheaded during a juice fast. > > He calls space skeptics "Earth Firsters," deaf to "the music of the > > spheres." Apparently there's nothing more "isolationist" than wanting to > > stay on your own planet. > > Krauthammer's obsession makes sense, in a way, since federally funded > > spaceflight is the quintessential neoconservative project: a giant, > > wasteful crusade designed to fill Americans' supposedly empty lives with > > meaning. > > Sorry, Charlie: The public's not buying it. A 2010 Rasmussen poll showed > > that more Americans think private enterprise should pay for space > > exploration than think government should fund it. > > By nearly 2-to-1 margins, they also oppose sending federally funded > > astronauts to the moon or Mars. As far as Americans are concerned, space is > > the ultimate "bridge to nowhere." > > It's true that, with a $1.5 trillion deficit, NASA's $18 billion isn't what > > stands between us and our fiscal day of reckoning. But every little bit > > counts, and this is the rare cut that won't make the public squeal. > > Moreover, there's a matter of principle at stake here. The threat of force > > lies behind every tax dollar the government collects. You might demand that > > your neighbor help defend us against a foreign invader but would you really > > hold a gun to his head to help him appreciate "the music of the > > spheres"?http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13342 > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help seehttp://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > * Visit our other community athttp://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
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