Missed Words
An extra Ink2Quill editorial
https://www.ink2quill.com/

I´m writing this extra editorial for the missed one in October. I was in New York City and just didn´t get around to it. The title of this editorial should really be called something like `Myths And Reasons´. By myths I mean  the falsehoods we choose to live our lives by and how those falsehoods influence us and others as a society. This is a question that could fill entire libraries of books and lead to heated blogs and podcasts.  But those kinds of discussions really lead nowhere. Let me narrow down the questioning with another question. (Now I know that we have wars to wage, people to ruin and minds to control but indulge me here). When will we start spreading out into space? A poet once asked `When will we touch the stars?´. Don´t get me wrong I love our little home we call Earth here in the cosmos. It needs some tidying up but I love it.

If you think of the obstacles that stand in our way and all the well meaning, talented people we have on our humble globe, not to mention resources it´s hard to imagine what´s taking us so long to reach out to the cosmos. Let´s start first by discussing our collective mindset. We are ready for it. Decades of science fiction and visionaries sharing their thoughts have made us all ready for the plunge. I mean we send our bravest people to war where they risk their lives and sometimes live in very hard conditions. Those brave people are definitely ready for space travel if they so choose. I know so many different people from all walks of life who would gladly volunteer at a chance to touch the stars. So the will and courage are there. What other obstacles stand in our way?

What about technology? Do we have anything, no matter how primitive, that can take us up and off Earth? I think that we could probably get by with primitive technology at first. We might not necessarily need warp engines at first and our first trips might even be local. Local like Mars, the Moon and things close by and like I said before, I´m sure you´d find many volunteers under those conditions. Think of the European colonists who crossed America in covered wagons under very difficult conditions hundreds of years ago or the waves of brave Africans and  Middle Eastern peoples of today who fled war in their homelands and crossed the Mediterranean Sea under difficult conditions and a hostile political climate. My point is that we´re very good at surviving adversity, especially if we help each other. So of course we can handle space travel and even thrive out there.

So lastly, what about money and funding? Well that might be a problem because when you talk about money what you really mean is handing over power to a group of people with agendas of their own. When you speak of money you are also talking about political barriers and that is a serious problem. There are some wealthy tycoons who are trying to jump-start the emerging space industry but I feel that even they will need some kind of grassroots support.

So the biggest obstacle to this jump forward seems to be ourselves and the myths we live our lives by. One such myth is the myth that space travel is impossible. I´m hopeful that one day I will sit in front of my computer and see an ad which reads: “ADVENTURESOME PIONEERS WANTED FOR A TRIP TO THE STARS”. Some food for thought.

Written by John

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