The Shanghai Story

Look Homeward Angel (con.)

What happens when we spend money, as a society, on something like the space program? Studies done by independent agencies show that one dollar spent on space research ultimately becomes seven to eight additional dollars for our economy and results in at least $1.50 in corporate tax revenue for the federal government. This doesn't include the additional personal income taxes that the government receives from individuals employed in the program. In other words, when the Federal Government spends one dollar on space research, the costs seem to be more than recovered through taxes alone. That's a pretty good investment! And, look at the stimulation to the economy in general.

Now look at what happens when the Federal Government spends one dollar on a welfare program. Outside of taxes on government salaries and government employees' spending, the money gets very little return; and welfare money is a "give-away" while space research money provides jobs and a feeling of self determination not only for space scientists, but for sales clerks, gas station attendants, pottery makers, etc.

This is one of the reasons why positive, challenging goals lead to socio-economic health; they spark the imagination, put people to work, and create wealth beyond that needed to support them. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't spend money on welfare programs, only that we need the investment return from a program like the space program to create the funds needed for programs that support people during their times of need.

How many of you have seen the desert around Salt Lake City, Utah? I don't know how you feel, but I have never seen one more desolate. The legends say there were only seven trees in that whole valley when Brigham Young chose it as the site for the Mormon community. These settlers had no money and very little in material goods. Most of them didn't even have horses. But they did have a vision, a vision of a city by the shores of the Great Salt Lake. Only seven years after the first person stepped foot in that area, the foundation to the temple was being laid; and today you can visit Salt Lake City, a thriving, green and well planned city, a jewel in the desert.

Of the three reasons I have presented for accepting the challenge of space settlement as a goal for our nation, the effect it will have on our image of ourselves and our belief in the future is the most important one. All else will come from that image. The vision of a positive, challenging future for all of humanity will create the wealth and knowledge to accomplish all we can dream of and more. This vision is essential to the health and future of our society.

Humanity has been given a warning by the closeness to which we have come to destroying ourselves and our planet, that we must work in partnership with nature and forget any thought of conquering it. We must go into space with a new consciousness, one that has concern for all of creation, including our fellow humans. We must develop a new attitude in harmony with the universe as we find it. This, too, must be part of our vision of the future.

Additionally, think about the potential impact on the attitude of people on the Earth toward ecology when the total ecology mind set of the space colonist is fostered in those people still living on the earth. In space we must conserve, we know that we are living on a spaceship. That attitude of conservation may well spread back to the Earth with people more readily accepting the concept of "Spaceship Earth" with the limited resources that implies.

One final thought I'd like you to think about deals with the impact of seeing our planet as a globe from space, seeing the disk of the Earth. We know that some people, if not all, are greatly inspired by this view and come away "knowing" just how fragile our environment is. There is a good chance that as more and more of us get this view, the impact on how we should be treating the Earth will be spread to others and, again, the concept of "Spaceship Earth" will spread and have an extremely positive impact on the issues of ecology, and conservation.

I've tried to show you why, for Earth's sake, we must work for space industrialization, exploration and settlement. I am not convinced, however, that these will be the reasons for our acceptance of this challenge.

You all will remember what was said during the early years of flight, and I quote, "If man had been meant to fly, God would have given him wings."

I believe that God did mean for humanity to fly, but he ran out of wings just before it was our turn to get a set. We were really very lucky, the penguin got the last set, and you know how far off the ground that's gotten him. God wondered what to do and then decided to give us something better, something that would get us farther off of the ground than any other creature on the Earth. He gave us an inquiring, creative mind that would one day invent the methods needed to fly anywhere we would want to go. And then He left us a universe to explore.

There is no question that the technology developed will benefit humanity in ways few of us can imagine today, that within this dream is the best possible solution to our energy problems, and that the vision given our society by a goal such as this can only lead to a positive, challenging future.

I believe that we will accept this challenge, that we will ultimately go into space because it is our destiny, and the pull of that destiny is too strong to be ignored.

THE END