My dad was a contingency engineer during the Apollo moon shots and worked for JPL most of my life. I was sold the dreams as a toddler of reaching for the stars, Seeking out new life and civilizations etc.
And I’m really sore that we gave up that for a global religious supercult and a slow death killing the global ecology.
We are living through history, there is now only one question for eveyone. Will you be a passive bystander or will you help history push forward? Will you be remembered as someone who stood by or someone who resisted? The time has come for people to act, for those to do what is to be done. Do not fear the dictator nor the capitalist for they tremble before the toiling masses yearning for liberation.
DEATH TO REACTION, DEATH TO SUBVERSION, DEATH TO TYRANNY
NASA is about to have its budget slashed, which will be devastating for space science. Private industry does not and cannot fill the gap. Please write to your congressman to save NASA and science funding: https://www.planetary.org/advocacy-action-center#/53
This one hurt a bit too close to home.
In high school and college I did believe that in my lifetime humanity would really start space exploration and colonization.
I studied engineering and did everything I could to contribute to this great advancement of humanity. I got a double master degree in aerospace manufacturing, specialized in the machining of exotic alloys used in aerospace, worked on rocket engines, developed new machining techniques that unlocked new possibilities for aircraft engines performances and was working my way up to be one of the few people in Europe highly specialized on machining technique for these alloys used in aerospace.
Then in 2016 I read more and more about “Collapse”, more specifically the collapse of our thermo industrial civilization. We are not going to colonize space, we will be lucky if most of humanity does not die in the coming century.
So rather than contributing to the future of humanity with my work I was contributing to worsen the condition of life on earth by accelerating climate change and the uses of resources.
I had a bit of an existential crisis at this point.
I wouldn’t consider making better aircraft engines as accelerating climate change, necessarily. It’s not like you’re making them burn bunker fuel.
Even in the best scenarios where we actually deal with climate change, we weren’t going to eliminate commercial flight. We night reduce it by having reasonable high speed train options, but across the ocean is certainly still flight, likely LA to NYC as well.
We shouldn’t need NY to DC flights though.
I understand your crisis, but I would not hold your career choice against you for a second, just like I wouldn’t for engineers still refining piston engines for automobiles.
People are going to use them for a long time, so if your niche is making that more efficient then it’s worthwhile.
Technically we did get space travel.
Just not for the peasants, unfortunately.
The assholes stole the future from us. We need to take it back.
We could have had Star Trek instead we get Mad Max.
the best part (and I mean that with extreme sarcasm) of this farce we find ourselves in in the US, of course, is that any future I can imagine is going to be bleak regardless of what happens.
oh hey trump’s out of office – one way or another? great, what about all the criminal fucks surrounding him that have enriched themselves and furthered their political careers because of him? the neo-nazi ideas that are gaining acceptance because we watched the world’s richest man make two Nazi salutes at a presidential inauguration, and not one fucking major news outlet could bring themselves to call a spade a spade? how’s all that goin’?
you’ve dealt with all of that? fantastic. now you just have to convince the American population that healthcare isn’t socialism, trans people don’t want to turn their kids gay, oh, and that rich people are actually their enemy. Well, them, and the Russian and Chinese governments (no, tankies, this comment isn’t for you either, blow me). you know, instead of just constantly having asinine culture wars with ourselves. Good luck with that.
oh yeah by the way in a little while Taiwan’s probably getting invaded because their independence hurts China’s fee-fees and that’s gonna fuck the global electronics industry really bad for… a not insignificant amount of time, lets say. And that’s probably a conflict we’re actually going to get tied up in, unlike invading Greenland (hopefully).
oh hey you’ve dealt with all of that? … somehow??? that’s cute, hey, by the way, the climate is so totally fucked now that in the near future, wars over access to food and clean water are now almost all but inevitable. and the ocean (and everything else) is full of plastic. glhf!!
When I see young kids nowadays, I feel so depressed knowing what they’re going to have to grow up dealing with.
I guess, baby steps?
They don’t have to grow up…
Just look at Gaza.
well, by “what they’ll be dealing with” I meant something some of them will survive with great hardship, and many of them not.
It’s shockingly often that I think to myself, “what are kids gonna read about this in history books when I’m an old man?”
Hopefully the truth.
But seeing how history still needs to be retold in some places, it might take a while.
It depends on who or what takes over the failed USA, I guess, because “history is told by the victors”, at least initially.
Bold of you to assume we’ll have books. Or a future…
what will the discount viagra voiceover guy tell my grandkids about me one day?
I’m thinking about that as well, I cycle through worry and apathy.
One of the worst thing you can curse someone with: “may you live in interesting times”
Yeah, Star Trek reference, still fits
Reminded me of Terry Pratchett, personally.
i read that last thing as “stiff tits” and it didnt’ change a thing.
That’s my stripper name.
I was looking for that one. 👍
Its also a curse on the discworld
well cheer up we are witnessing the biggest scam of the last couple centuries. I mean who can claim to have seen a scammer on par with “I am a princess from nigeria wanting to transfer funds to your country” become the president of the US? Nevermind the guy, the guy’s wife has her own bitcoin lol. It does not get more scammer than this.
Space travel. Hyperspace/warp drive. Space exploration and colonization. Ubiquitous helper androids and flying cars.
We wanted Star Trek. We’re getting an even stupider Elysium.
…back to the future was WAY off…
Back to the Future 2 nailed it.
…i hate having to upvote you…
