Houston Space Society
If I hear one more American complain about the problems with the Federal government, I'll spit. Our forefathers gave us a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and we (that's you and me, bud) have turned it into a government of special interests -- and we're doing a lousy job of that.
The situation was disgustingly clear at the tenth annual International Space Development Conference. The theme this year was "Space: A Call for Action'' and the conference certainly lived up to its name.
Everyone at the conference was talking about the proposed cancellation of Space Station Freedom. Most everyone agreed that it was inevitable and quite a few people thought it was good that it would be cancelled. The scientists discussed its limited scientific capabilities. The space enthusiasts commented on its excessive cost compared to its benefits. The industrialists talked about better alternatives available from the private sector. The engineers talked about the technical problems with the current design and the dozens of ways to do things better. The political types told everyone to write their Congressional representatives to convince them to reinstate funding.
Now, I might have expected that those interested in politics would discuss the political impact of the cancellation, the programs for which the money could be used instead, and the opportunities this event presented for a new direction for America in space. Instead, they were calling on us to support what we knew to be an overpriced boondoggle that has room for four, count'em four astronauts. More disturbing, the leadership of several of the space organizations sponsoring the conference asked for the same support. People at the conference were listening and agreeing with these ideas, went home and helped pressure the House to vote for it.
There we were, committing the perfect hypocrisy. Out of one side of our mouths came the greatest scorn for what the space station could do and what it would cost, and out of the other side came a call to support this albatross. Not because we believed in it, but because it was our albatross. "If they take the space station away from us, we'll have nothing from Congress for years.'' "We have to do everything we can to save Space Station Freedom, or the space program will be set back by a decade.'' What rubbish.
And yet, isn't this what every interest group in America does, every day? Farmers must surely be aware of farm programs that waste tens of billions of tax dollars to do things like buy dairy products so that every American can pay $3 for a gallon of milk. Doctors must be aware of the wasteful aspects of the Medicare system which they use to their advantage. Real estate people must be aware of the vast problems with Federal real estate programs. Veterans know about problems at the Veterans' Administration hospitals. Environmentalists know about programs in the Environmental Protection Agency that don't work and probably won't ever work. Consumer protection advocates, labor leaders, tax specialists, high energy physicists, no matter what your specialty, you know about the programs that waste, the ideas that don't work, the minor frauds being perpetrated.
So we have a national debt measured in trillions of dollars while the problems which our society faces in farming, in medicine, in real estate, in veterans' affairs, in the environment, in consumer protection, in labor relations, in fair taxation, in high energy physics, and even out in space go unsolved. Not because those who are involved in the different problem areas don't know what needs to be done, but because they have no will to make it happen. It should make you angry.
Every single interest group refuses to fight against the problems in its area of interest because they are afraid that scarce resources will go to some other interest group. They would rather see money spent poorly for their interests than see it spent poorly for someone else's interests. So farmers fight for more farm subsidies that don't work. Veterans fight for more veterans' hospitals that they are afraid to visit. Environmentalists fight for a larger budget for programs that take too long to do too little.
And space enthusiasts fight for a space station that eats all the budget for programs that might pave the way for the human settlement of space when there are better, cheaper alternatives. Alternatives that provide space facilities in orbit sooner, for more astronauts, and at lower cost, allowing important scientific projects and space settlement research to continue at needed levels of funding.
Why? Because we are unwilling to stand up for what we know is right. Because we are afraid that to speak the truth about our own programs will bring down unmerciful criticism and result, not in better programs, but in no programs.
Citizenship carries a burden of responsibility. Shirking that responsibility results in government that doesn't work. That's what we've got. Momentum will not carry our country into the 21st century as anything but a third rate world power with massive debt. We must take control of our actions. We must begin to criticize what we know does not work. With trillions of dollars already wasted, we cannot afford to waste any more money. With decades already wasted going the wrong way, we cannot afford to waste any more time.
It is up to us. Let's do something right.
