I haven't been feeling well these last couple of days, so I've been spending a lot of time on Netflix. Since one of my goals for the year is to watch more documentaries, I pretty much immersed myself in Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. I also made time for some Ted Talks: Space Trek, though. I've enjoyed both, but one of the Ted Talks irked me a bit. The man giving the talk, Bill Stone,* suggested that the private route is the best route for space exploration; that a business endeavor is more likely to advance in space travel and science, since there is competition. (I believe it was episode 3 on Netflix.)
Here's the thing, though. The competition might fuel discoveries and action (while the public programs move at a slower pace, because we give them no money). But when it's a private company, the motive behind that competition is often money. Profit. So as these discoveries are made - when we get to the moon again, when we build a fuel station that can help us achieve further travel - that motive (money) will manifest, probably in greed.
I don't want space travel where money is the driving factor, the only thing that matters. Some of the private organizations pursuing the idea of space travel have already talked about hotels, about tourist flights, about mining. If private organizations lead the way into deep space, it won't be accessible to everyone. The people won't be put first. What do I see when I think of private companies taking the lead? I see projects with narrow vision. I see the buying and selling of resources that ought to be free for the public (I mean, it baffles me that water is not free on Earth). I see another playground reserved for the ultra rich (but some of us mere mortals could be shipped up there to do the work). I see public ideals being thrown away, and corporate greed taking over. This is, nearly always, the outcome of private endeavors. Corporations have already wreaked havoc across the globe; are we really going to let them ruin the galaxy for the rest of us, too?
Don't get me wrong, great things can come from private work. I think Steve Jobs was brilliant. But the purpose of private industries is to specifically look for those things that will entertain consumers. When it comes to space travel and exploration, that's not enough. The purpose needs to be broad. It needs to look not just for what we want, but for what we don't know yet. Or what we can't even fathom yet. Much of what scientists find is stuff they weren't looking for in the first place. The benefit, other than knowledge itself, is that good things come from exploration. The amount of beneficial discoveries that are made entirely by accident is staggering... and it's less likely to happen if you're exploring through a narrow lens of "What Here Can Be Turned Into Profit?"
Naturally, the episode immediately following was a talk from Brian Cox on the importance of public funding for science, and for what he called "curiosity-driven science." Perfect. You can view it on Netflix (it's episode 4) but you can also see/read it here. That's the difference. Curiosity-driven exploration can and will benefit the world and all of humanity. Profit-driven exploration is less likely to benefit all of us, as the nature of anything driven by profit is that there's a problematic supply-demand scheme. We need broader ideas.
Even if there wasn't an intrinsic flaw in profit-driven anything, I don't trust corporations. I think I share that feeling with a large chunk of people. They deplete resources, treat people as disposable items, and follow a means to an end philosophy. And even if there's a benevolent rich person out there who really does want what's best for everyone... it's risky. What happens when that man dies and a conglomerate of money hungry board members take over decisions? Inevitable? Maybe not. Likely given the nature of capitalism? Yes.
Space exploration is too big, too important for us to let fall into the hands of corrupt rich people. Greed and exploitation are natural (horrific) results of capitalism, and they have no place taking the lead on something as paramount as space exploration.
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| "Pale blue dot." That's us. This is way too big to be driven by money. |
(I acknowledge the fact that private companies exist. That doesn't mean they ought to be leading things of public interest. I'm not opposed to hearing about private partnerships, so long as public interest will be preserved.)
I'm not pretending I fully trust the world's governments. I certainly don't fully trust our own. (And woop - ours is basically a corporate cheerleader, all the more reason to revolt and/or implement publicly funded elections, hey.) But I do think there's a tad more accountability. And while I think it'd be ape-shit crazy to have, say, the pentagon lead it (last thing we need is an expansion of the military industrial complex...), I trust NASA's intentions.
Stone was right that NASA and other government and public organizations aren't doing enough. But his suggestion of business ventures to get the process going is an ironic one, since the problem is that too many public dollars are given to private companies (through corporate subsidies and through contracts with weapon manufacturers).
It seems that the proper solution is to just better fund science. Scientists - those at NASA, at universities, at centers across the world, are just as motivated as corporations. In fact I'd argue they're more driven, since the science itself is motivating them. They're passionate. Public organizations are more than capable of the job. It's not motivation or ability that public organizations lack, it's funding. Instead of fueling the privatization of space we should cut back on corporate subsidies and on defense, and maybe throw NASA another penny from every tax dollar collected.
When it comes down to it, space exploration should be a worldwide endeavor. It shouldn't be something done by a few for profit. Space travel has the potential to answer questions that people have been asking for thousands of years. It's got the potential to change history for all of humankind and for our planet. It's therefore only right that public institutions are the ones that lead the expeditions.
Deep space travel isn't a business venture. It's an exploration by and for all of humanity.
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Charlotte
*Based on the talk, Stone seems like a good guy, and he's obviously very smart. I do think he's misguided on this one, though. Also I love that a man who explores caves has the last name "Stone."
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