🚀 go-pugleaf

Despite the amount of polemic and willful ignorance this series of
rants -- one could hardly call it a debate -- has generated, I feel
it my bounden duty to my Commonwealth cousins to correct just a few
of the most egregious errors.  Regular readers of s.s.p. would be
well advised to hit N about now.

In article <D7yy6E.FGH@freenet.niagara.com>,
msteele@freenet.niagara.com (Mike Steele) writes:
|> 	15th century explorers of the Atlantic certainly cannot be 
|> compared to the space explorers of today.  Unlike the Cabots and 
|> Columbus', we already have a good idea what out there, and we also know 
|> it going to take WAY TOO LONG (at the present moment) to reach a feasible 
|> destinatinations. The years exploring space just can't be compared to the 
|> months it took to cross the Atlantic.

Days, not years.  The big economic benefits, the things which will affect
everybody to some extent in our lifetimes, will come about from activities
in Earth orbit, stable points (called libration points) between the Earth
and the Moon, and maybe on the Moon itself.  You can get to the Moon at a
leisurely cruise in a few days.
 
|> 	Oh, come on now!  How can it help Canada's situation?  Let see 
|> some facts, some sort of study!  All I can see is a programme to eat at 
|> our debt (anything that wastes the nation's money affects the debt.  
|> That's what the debt is), with NO ECONOMIC OR SOCIAL GAIN/BENEFITS for 
|> years to come.  With no gain, it certainly can't help the Canada's 
|> situation (and please don't explaing to me how a moon rock will solve the 
|> welfar problem).

Brave words, in caps yet!  Let's see ...  Canada, like Australia, has
a large land area with a relatively sparse population -  most people
live in cities, long distances between folks in the wilderness areas.
Both countries have major debt problems.

FACT: Australia spends about $700 million a year on space-related goods
and services.  Australia's population is pushing 18 million.  It's
likely the value of space business will scale up roughly with the
population because of the similarities between the two countries
(mostly to do with distance, resource management, mining activity,
a general need to know about the weather for agriculture, disaster
preparation, you name it ...)

That money winds up in foreign (American, Chinese, European) pockets.
Why? Because those places were smart enough to invest in space research,
which allowed these businesses to come into existence.  This means jobs
for their people, tax money for their treasuries.

Our country benefits as well.  People who work for the importing
companies pay taxes, as do those companies (to some extent!).  The
things those companies do make money (or they'd go out of business).
They spend this money on other goods and services, increasing the
general level of economic activity, and the government manages to
scoop off some at every turn.  We just lose out on the jobs, the
wholesale industries ...

The net result is that our society (both government and private) makes
money out of space activities.  The downside is that our balance of
payments is shot to hell.  If we did the research, owned the businesses,
that wouldn't be a problem; there'd be more jobs for our people, more
money all round.  The same applies to Canada.

That's just today's space business, from yesterday's space research
and development.  There's every reason to think that future space
research and development will create even more opportunities, make
us all richer, in terms of both money and quality of life.

When you're watching the Olympic Games live from Sydney in the
year 2000, ask yourself how is this possible, who's watching,
who's affected and who's making a buck. Next time you reach out and
crush someone, think about how it's done.
  
|> 	I almost forgot, our social structure is decaying BECAUSE there 
|> is no money left in the kitty.  The social safety net is based on a 
|> surplus of funds, which we don't have, and which a space programme won't 
|> help.

Other nations' space programs are already helping.  Your own would
help even more, see above.

-- 
Philip R. Young        |             young@bunyip.ap.dg.com
                       |       Philip_Young@dgap.ceo.dg.com

 "It is the lurid intermixture of the two that produces the
  illuminating blaze of the infernal regions."

  - Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Rappaccini's Daughter"