To
B Ark or Not to B Ark...
 The
Superman myth was concocted so long ago that most of
the people alive at the time are now somewhat less than
alive. They are, in fact, dead. It was a
time
when
the
health of the Earth was still conceived as inviolable, before smog or burning
rivers
or
melting
ice
caps
became
front-page
issues, when the seas offered not only a limitless bounty of fish but served
as a
bottomless
repository
for all of our garbage.
Little
Kal-el's
travel
to
Earth
was
then understood
to
be
a
simple metaphor
for the holy idol of manifest destiny, not as a blueprint for post-apocalyptic,
interstellar
reseeding of humanity... or Kryptonanity. Whatever.
Now, though, there are those who cling to the idea of the U.S. space program
as
a
potential
Space
Ark, necessary for rescuing humanity after we've ruined the land,
poisoned the seas, and
mined
the Earth of everything but thorium.
You understand the irony there, right?
I
enjoy a good fantasy as much as anyone but apart from token landings on only
the very nearest of heavenly bodies, developed by a socialized
program no Republican will ever again deem worthy of funding as there's no profit
potential apart from the piddly few billions gleaned from the aerospace industry,
we're not going anywhere. Humanity is staying right where it is, most of which
time is spent camped in front of 5-foot TVs, watching commercials created
by companies busily raping the Earth congratulating themselves on doing such
a
great
job
of "making the world a better place". Then charging $4 a gallon.
It should be $20 a gallon, but that's another rant.
=Lefty=
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