A brave old world

When we, Space Renaissance members, spoke of the many dangers humanity was facing on the planet, which we felt could only be addressed by having humanity move out into space, I doubt we imagined we would be facing two of these dangers in a few years. Yet at this moment, most of us are in quarantine and out of work.

Governments around the world and their people are trying to deal with a health and economic crisis with no precedent, and some countries are even trying to ignore the danger to see if it simply goes away on its own. But our old world strategies have been useless to face the crisis, and in a few months the world’s most powerful leaders imposed controls, quarantines and other strategies to limit harm while technology caught up to the pandemic.

Even we, tried and true space development advocates, would never have dreamt of the way developed countries assumed the economic consequences of dealing with the human suffering and collateral effects that would touch our daily lives as humanity struggled to come together to face COVID-19. The industrial and economic repercussions of failed global distribution and commerce systems threatened to upend both civilized discourse and community identity as some individuals raced to hoard necessities and others seemed to want to spread the disease.

As stated in the preamble to the Civilian Space Protocol:

We knew that global pollution, depletion of resources, climate change, all threaten our survival as a civilized community.

We knew we are causing the third greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history, and that we risked being included in the list of the species that we caused to disappear.

But we didn’t realize that our own personal lives and lifestyles would be put on the line, and now we are living a reality that goes beyond our wildest imagination, with cities full of empty streets, supermarkets with empty shelves, and recknowned hospitals lacking basic supplies. Some people call it a war, one in which a mindless protein, a virus, faces off against humanity and human development.

Yet our old world has shown its bravery and its resilience, and the promise of returning to the comforts of modern civilization is alive and well. But will we continue mindlessly destroying our environment, misusing resources, and ignoring known risks that include those of another pandemic? As stated in the preamble, we space advocates understand that now is the time when we must learn to use renewable resources, recycle our waste, and do all that is needed to keep this planet hospitable for us, because we’ll need it for a long time. And we also really need to prepare to move industries and people to space, because this is the only viable way to protect the Earth and humankind in the long term. Some would even dare to say we must prepare to move out, since the risk of failure is no joking matter.

But human nature is one of controversy and opposition unless self-interest is clearly present. The only way to foster both development and Earth’s environment, both safety and personal freedom is finding new resources and property outside this planet. Location, location, location means people want something of their own and the possibility of acquiring desired goods and services.

For this reason I must concur with the signers of the CSP that we must not only facilitate but allow our 8-billion-person civilization to find safety and well being in new places, with unlimited resources and energy to keep on developing our multiple economies, cultures, welfare, ethics, well-being, freedom and democracy throughout the Solar System. If we achieve this, humanity will be able to survive any and all risks and dangers that could destroy our home planet, because we will be citizens of the system, not just of a country or land.

Ad Astra,

Manny, Manuel Perez

Manuel Perez is President of Space Renaissance USA, and Chair of SRI’s Civilian Space Protocol consortium. He holds a Masters in Public Administration from New York University and has worked in the oil industry, government, non-profits, and a number of business ventures. He is an active politician and organizer in his community, stating that if you are not part of the solution, you are surely on the other side of the equation.

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Space Renaissance International (SRI) is a proud co-host, together with other Space Advocacy organizations, in a worldwide campaign, named “The Civilian Space Protocol” (CSP). Please check it here: https://civilianspaceprotocol.space/

A letter, including the text of the Civilian Space Protocol, will be sent to all of the Planet Earth’s Governments, and to the United Nations, recommending a better expenditure of the public money, to support civilian space development.

Every space advocacy organization of Planet Earth is invited to co-host – inter pares – this important initiative, that could represent an epochal event in the history, allowing the whole space community to speak with one voice, about the very urgent need to support the expansion of civilization in the outer space.

Here it is possible to subscribe as a co-host of the Civilian Space Protocol:

https://civilianspaceprotocol.space/join-the-civilian-space-protocol/

Are you a space enthusiast? Are you willing to help Space Renaissance in our outreach continuous action and to develop our next programs?
Join us as a member:
https://spacerenaissance.space/membership/international-membership-registration/
or make a donation to SRI:
https://spacerenaissance.space/build-sri-with-us/donate-to-space-renaissance-international/

Also, you might be interested to my last book “A greater world is possible: The expansion of civilization beyond the limits of our home planet is the moral issue of our time”, available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/greater-world-possible-expansion-civilization/dp/1727889924

Visit the Space Renaissance websites:
https://spacerenaissance.space

https://academy.spacerenaissance.space