[Moonbase-discuss] Re: NASA & privateers

[JonAlexandr@aol.com]

Randall:  << Can we keep partisan politics out of this, please? >>

Jon:  << Uhm, why? >>

Randall:  << Because otherwise this will turn into just another political 
talkie list.  There are thousands of those already; we should aim for 
something rather more useful. >>

Jon:  Maybe you're right.  Maybe.  I keep my own online ranting to a minimum. 
 However, politics is surely interwoven into the whole process of getting 
into space.  I don't think it can be avoided.  Science and engineering itself 
may be neutral, but ideology provides the fuel and direction.  I think it's 
healthy to be aware -- and make others aware -- of one's politics.

In the 1970s F.M. Esfandiary (a heavily discredited visionary accused of 
murder) coined the term "upwinger" for those who felt that they were beyond 
the ordinary political spectrum defined by "left" and "right."  While I think 
that there's some value to the idea, I got the distinct impression that most 
"upwingers" tended to be 'right-wingers with rocket packs,' or Heinlein acoly
tes.  The 'movement' has since been superseded by young "posthumanists" -- 
and my criticism I think remains valid.

Maybe I've been more sensitive to this issue because I am most comfortable on 
the (traditional) political left.  And maybe those who are on the political 
right are blind to their own biases and think that their politics is 
'transparent' to the main goal of getting into space.  I don't think it's 
that simple.  --Jon