One very small step for mankind...

 

 

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..."

 

JFK

1962

As a child of the sixties, I am amazed by what has happened to us in the past fifty years. We (collectively) have gone from a nation of "can do" to the "gang who can't shoot straight". Now before you think I might just be on a meaningless gripe brought on by another Polar Vortex, please let me make my case.

The news this morning was more of the same. Target is letting almost 500 people go, many from the Minneapolis Headquarters. We have no way forward, no new and exciting industries or opportunities. Only a bloated Wall Street, made fat by excessive QE feeding from the Federal Reserve. Where is the future for the rest of us?

Some things to consider:

• Space - Do you know it has been over forty years since we have set foot on the Moon? Our Moon, which has a surface area bigger than North and South America combined, is still unexplored. Well, we did explore about three square miles of it. We spent a fortune in the sixties to make this miracle happen, and then stopped going. Why? There is so much more to learn, to explore. Our International Space Station is dated and inefficient. It should be scrapped replaced by a permanent international Moon base instead.
• Oceans - To quote from the NOAA website: The ocean is the lifeblood of Earth, covering more than 70 percent of the planet's surface, driving weather, regulating temperature, and ultimately supporting all living organisms. Throughout history, the ocean has been a vital source of sustenance, transport, commerce, growth, and inspiration. Yet for all of our reliance on the ocean, 95 percent of this realm remains unexplored, unseen by human eyes. My thinking is this - we have learned amazing things, made amazing discoveries, to help mankind in the five percent we have explored. It is time to step up our game. There might be energy, health, or nutrition discoveries yet to be found.
• Energy - We have known for decades now that some of our planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, produce more energy than they take in from the sun. Why? There are theories, but we just don't know for sure. What we do know is this - the universe is teaming with unlimited and bountiful energy. Real, abundant, and efficient energy. So is our planet. Not bird killing windmills - energy sources which are 100% clean, unlimited, and have no externality of production. Let's find them.
• Health - Many of us in the sixties were convinced by the turn of the century we would have cancer licked. And also MDA. Here we sit in 2014, and these terrible diseases still stalk our land. Most of us have lost love ones to a disease such as these. We need to collectively say, "No More!". We are so close, we just need to do the finishing kick and find the cures.

I don't think President Kennedy would recognize us today. Could we find the national will to go to Mars by the end of the decade? Could we back down the Soviets like we did in 1962? Would President Kennedy accept the fact we have 92 million people (and growing) out of the work force? Would he accept the fact that one out of seven families are on some kind of food assistance? That we still have homeless people sleeping on the streets? 

I have said before, our technology has galloped way ahead of our societal evolution. We need to get them back in sync. We need to find the pioneering spirit we had when our country was settled. The adventurous spirit we had when we went to the moon. Where are we headed right now? What is our focus? We are hanging on to yesterday, as yesterday's ideas are dated, and are not what are needed to craft tomorrow's vision.

Of all the scarce resources we have in the world right now, vision has become the most rare. There has to be someone that can step forward and lead us into tomorrow. Someone needs to be the next Kennedy or Reagan.