2003.02.02
2003.02.02
the shuttle blew up yesterday. seven people died.
i’m not sure how i feel about the whole thing. emotionally it’s very confusing for me. i didn’t know those people, yet i get to the point where i almost feel like crying for them.
i’m mad at fucking bush. what a lame assed president we have. new york and washington are attacked and he comes out with words of sympathy that rally the country. but if you listen to his words now, or you didn’t know the context, they are hollow words, almost insincere to me. people then we so devestated -me included- that anything would have garnered my sympathy.
this tragedy, however, rings truth about him, at least as a public speaker. let me put a disclaimer here. i do not think as many do that bush is an evil person, or a horrible uncaring person. i do, however, believe that he lacks the charisma to be a president to rally behind. he is not a galvanizer of emotions.
all day saturday i remembered the words of another president who many people didn’t like. yet no matter if you liked him or not his words when challenger exploded half way to heaven were inspiring and a better eulogy than i could have hoped for. “The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.” (link to complete speech)
i believe that the future of humanity is in space. every accident, every budget cut, every ignorant person that thinks that space is a waste of time prevents us from getting there. it only takes one large meteor impact or one nuclear war or one truly calamitous and vengeful virus, and we are history. ever met a dinosaur? of course you haven’t. ever seen a trilobyte crawling across a beach? nope. all gone. all gone in cataclysmic events. world events. all the technology and innovation and ambition in the world will do us no good when a two mile rock crashes anywhere on the planet.
a few months ago we had a meteor pass between us and the orbit of the moon. a large meteor. big enough to wipe out large cities. we didn’t see it till it was already leaving our planet, not even when it was coming and too close to pretend to do anything about it.
we are small creatures on the thin crust of a fairly small planet. all that we have ever done could go with one impact. the planet won’t know or care. the universe will not notice. it’s up to us if we want to survive.
so i am sad because we lost seven souls, and i am also sad because the bureaucrats and nay-sayers will be crying for things to slow down or stop or be delayed. i’m sad because this future that they believed in and were willing to risk flight in space will be delayed despite them.
Categorized: life science thoughts
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