Comments - Moonshot - by Scott Galloway - Prof G Media
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No Mercy / No Malice Newsletter
Moonshot
Boldly going farther Read →
35 Comments
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I don't even consider myself an environmentalist, but we were so much more collectively concerned about the state of our own planet way back when Apollo missions were happening. The idea that we would continue to burn the fuel we do and trash planet Earth to the extent that we are doing, while chasing childlike dreams of interplanetary life, seems wrongheaded to me. We ought to commit to bringing our degradation of THIS planet to a zero state before spending more capital and funding on going to others.
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100% The idea of space tourism is asanine.
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I'm all for using space to further humanity. But it bothers me how we have cut so much out of the social safety net. It brings to mind a little ditty by Gil Scott Heron:
A rat done bit my sister Nell
With whitey on the moon
Her face and arms began to swell
And whitey's on the moon
I can't pay no doctor bills
But whitey's on the moon
Ten years from now I'll be payin' still
While whitey's on the moon
The man just upped my rent last night
Cause whitey's on the moon
No hot water, no toilets, no lights
But whitey's on the moon
I wonder why he's upping me?
Cause whitey's on the moon?
Well I was already giving him fifty a week
With whitey on the moon
Taxes taking my whole damn check
Junkies making me a nervous wreck
The price of food is going up
And as if all that shit wasn't enough:
A rat done bit my sister Nell
With whitey on the moon
Her face and arm began to swell
And whitey's on the moon
Was all that money I made last year
For whitey on the moon?
How come I ain't got no money here?
Hmm! Whitey's on the moon
Y'know I just 'bout had my fill
Of whitey on the moon
I think I'll send these doctor bills
Airmail special
To whitey on the moon
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I think the most beautiful thing about Artemis is the crew all resoundingly once again looked back at our one beautiful and fragile Earth and gave conscious voice to protecting our spaceship Earth from devastation. Surely that is the priceless reminder of this last journey
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Compelling, storytelling, as usual Scott. But... There's always a but from the peanut gallery... Why are we dissing African American physicist and astronaut Ronald McNair, who died on the Challenger as the SECOND African American astronaut, or Guy Bluford, the first, via the shuttle. With affection, from an
NYU Stern colleague.
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. . .or Charles Bolden, astronaut and former NASA head.
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Let’s not forget Sally Ride!
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The difference between JFK’s era and today is that everyone used to be able to agree that “we” meant “every American.”
The combination of social media, information silos, MAGA and Christian nationalist identity politics, and liberal/progressive identity politics has fractured JFK’s “we” into various iterations of “our tribe” - so when the mass shooting happens, or the trip around the moon happens, or somebody wins an Oscar or a Grammy, the first question is always “was it one of us or one of them?”
America won’t be capable of sustained great efforts until we find a way to conquer the selfish tribalism that stifles them.
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Enjoyed the article, as usual. I would encourage your readers to watch For All Mankind series (Apple+). Interesting storytelling sci-fi of sorts with one significant change in history...The Russians actually get to the Moon first! And all that transpires afterward - good and bad - is accentuated with AI, etc. Well done series if not a dark testament about the potential of human beings. Also previews the narrative of Artemis "We have to get there first before the Chinese. Whoever gets there first sets the rules." Can't believe that I've actually heard those direct words said out loud...Kind takes the romantic nature of the story away. Never mind...I'm still a sucker for the romance! Thanks Professor G!
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As always another fascinating insight from Scott. Although we do have space travel up thank for most of the technology we enjoy and use today, it’s hard to reconcile the sheer cost of space exploration with the sheer cost of financial deprivation and poverty that millions of earthlings experience daily. That’s not to say (wo)man shouldn’t go back to space or that space exploration isn’t good science, it is, it’s just it’s hard to justify the expense when ordinary people are struggling to put food on the table and gas in their cars.
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That money is not fungible. Our budgeting system doesn't work that way. "We" (our "elected" leaders) determine and negotiate priorities, create the sausage that is the budget, and then fund it with national debt. There are no levers to take from one bucket and add to another. And there really shouldn't be if you think through it.
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This post is not branded as the No Mercy/No Malice newsletter. But is it the No Mercy/No Malice newsletter? Please help to understand so I don’t miss Scott’s writing!
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One of the best issues of No Mercy / No Malice newsletters. Thank you for articulating the value of the space program to the economy and to the United States as a brand; had not considered NASA's brand value before. Great analysis.
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Did you live it… or are you living it now?
Understanding generations is sometimes as simple as asking Did you live it… or are you living it now?
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Commander Wiseman's wife's name was spelled Carroll. I'm not pointing this out to be pedantic, but spelling names correctly is the least we writers can do.
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I'm usually in lockstep with you AND masculinity is most certainly sequestered to male people. Ask Christina Koch if she identifies with that term. Humanity or courage or adventuresomeness or civic mindedness have not had "toxic" tacked on to them and I would guess many women if asked would not aspire to masculinity.
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Scott,
One of your best...
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I'm with astrophysicist DrBecky on this one https://youtu.be/K7Qg34MD0m0?si=g34VIaCbH4wgfVPN
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I am so pleased to know whence the name of the mission came. For me, as a young adult, moon and other NASA exploration flights were not that uncommon. I was shocked to hear that it had been 50 years since those days. ‘bout time I say. Thank you, Scott.
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