Reply #315: Misplaced Emphasis on Technology [View All]

[swilton]

One of the by-products of capitalism is the misplaced belief in technology to solve humanity's problems. To date with little control over the extent of that technology, research that fuels technology is under the control of big business. With disproportionate investments made in technology over the humanities what is the result? We can send a man to the moon but we can't have peace on earth. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein alerted us to the puzzle of technology run amock.

This results in the emphasis on science and technology over the arts and humanities is seen within our public education system...The humanities have been downplayed to the extent that Inglish is king and even grammar and communications (per the Morans) are not really strengths of the population at large. Witness the election of our presidents on sound-bites and the tea-bagger movements. Just look at so many of the foreign students whose knowledge of English (second language) and American history and political science is greater than those students who study in their own country. Visit any bar in Europe - multi-lingualism is common among the masses.

The emphasis on space is a distraction from the real problems (pending environmental catastrophe, endless wars for resources) that are facing this country. Why not expend the dollars on space travel on solar energy? The reason is that the military and space exploration fuel the capitalist agenda of control of resources. Now that those on earth have been squandered and/or are controlled by the elites the next frontier to exploit is outer space...