Re: What a time of aspiration. Editorial, July 13, 2019.
Unpublished letter submitted to the Toronto Star
Am I the only person who views it as complete and utter lunacy to go to the moon (or into space) when there are so many pressing human problems here on earth. Obscene expenditures on the military, the space program and arms manufacturing to name only a few are irresponsible and unconscionable but not surprising in a heavily patriarchal capitalist society. It is an utter waste of money just as it was when Apollo 11 completed its highly controversial mission fifty years ago amidst the same kind of social turmoil noted in the Star’s editorial. Not much has changed. It was and is an expensive government distraction from the real social problems then and now all platitudes aside.
It is highly ludicrous and completely improbable that in an age where global problems are so extraordinary and overwhelming that we scarcely know where to start that countries like the United States, Russia, India and China who all have horrendous humanitarian crises to deal with on earth are spending billions preparing to go back to the moon with a manned mission.
What an stupendous waste of resources in a world of supposedly so few. This kind of wrong-headed thinking is an example of the kind of me-first, dislocated prioritizing in our entrepreneurial, capitalist, consumerist, materialist society that brings out millions to a parade for the NBA champion Toronto Raptors yet cannot bring even a small crowd to protest Doug Ford’s cripplingly massive budget cuts that are devastating Ontario or the administrative insanity that is driving decisions in the U.S. under Donald Trump. Our priorities are those of the consumer not of humanity and this is how governments base their decisions. People oppose these decisions but are ignored by governments.
In the U.S. the problems with their polarized society are too many to mention yet Donald Trump has money to fund a space race. In India there are grievous water shortages due to climate change and widespread poverty in a massive country of paupers yet the government is committed to spending billions going into space. China, although it is a massive world power that has accomplished much still burns coal and pollutes its own country making cheap goods for the North American and European markets while sending a probe to the moon with further exploration planned.
If as we are told we are living in a world of limited resources, decisions should be made based on Malow’s hierarchy of needs: food, water, shelter etc. for everyone. We should not be spending trillions building and maintaining a military, running a space station or producing arms that kill millions each year in hopeless wars to name only a few. If we expect to survive we need to radically alter our national and international thinking and stop being over the moon with going to the moon.