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Originally posted by AnotherWay83 yeah and it would be great for the economy here in so-cal as well since they have so much of the aerospace industry based here it would be awesum if they decided to do it but i think it would requie a huge amount of money, money which really could be better spent at this point in time elsewhere...in short i think before we can look at other planets + satellites we need to take care of things here on our home planet the money could be spent on welfare and education, for instance, where it is def. needed right now yes i know sum1's gonna say sumthing like "oh thats so ignorant how can you say sumthing like that" lol but i still think its true

Well, with that attitude, you wouldn't be living in America. Exploration is almost always beneficial for the country's economy, and therefore for the social status of it's inhabitants.

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Originally posted by DrUg_Tit0 Well, with that attitude, you wouldn't be living in America. Exploration is almost always beneficial for the country's economy, and therefore for the social status of it's inhabitants.

so basically what u're saying is that we should choose to spend billions of dollars on rockets and space vehicles instead of on schools and welfare...

sure why not? The USA is spending billions of dollars right now on schools and welfares.. more per capita I'm sure then any other nation, and look how much good thats done them.

On a passing note I guess the billions of dollars being put into nasa haven't done wonders either

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Originally posted by tathi A clean slate state, where humanity can hopefully learn from their mistakes and not piss in their new pool.

I disagree -- the way our world is today is precisely because of human nature. We can't all of a sudden "wake up" and become different creatures. If Mars is colonized, although the way of life there may be more ideal at first (as when America was first founded), inevitably it will turn into another Earth.

Also, I have a feeling that it would not be autonomous at all. If anything, I see a colonized Mars as a "New America".

In any case, humanity going to other worlds is exciting despite the negative political quabbles and whatnot that will inevitably result. Ya can't have the best of both worlds!

i completely agree with you alcode, i was just being idealistic

been reading to much heinlein

The thing is we will never solve all of our probems here on earth. If we're waiting for a eutopian society to spring forth before we decide to explore again, we never will. If you look at us now, in comparison to humanity throughout the rest of history, we are probably in the best shape, all things considered. There will always be poverty and always be hungry people and there will always be disease and injustice. However, we have to deal with those the best we can, while continuing to move on. Again, we will never be "perfect" down on earth, but we must continue to explore and discover.

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Originally posted by AnotherWay83 so basically what u're saying is that we should choose to spend billions of dollars on rockets and space vehicles instead of on schools and welfare...

Yes. Space exploration offers new opportunities for scientific research. Scientific research brings new technologies. New technologies improve everyday life. Additional spending on welfare maintains the status quo. Additional spending on research and exploration changes the status quo, usually for the better.

Think of this little example. 10% of people in some agricultural country are starving. You can either keep spending money to give them food, or you can give that money to research new farming techniques. Once you accomplish the latter, you have the same result as earlier, and you don't have to keep spending money on feeding the poor. Just imagine how world would be like if during renaissance people decided to spend on welfare instead of research. We'd still be living in the middle ages, the quality of life would be lower than it is now. History has shown that progressive nations always end better off than those who don't favor research and development.

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1+1=10