From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globenet/
I myself have no problem with a member of the administration taking the long view, or thinking highly of his own culture.
CDI sent an intern to the Mike Griffin speech May 3. Most of it was not of interest to this list, with the exception of his mention of the need for NASA to continue to work with the military on hypersonic vehicles.But this passage from our intern’s notes bothers me a wee bit. Perhaps I am paranoid, or just hate freedom. But…it whiffs a bit of empire building and doesn’t seem to bode well for future cooperation in civil space.
Clash of Civilizations in Space?
In 1,000 or 2,000 years Mike believes there will be more people in space than on earth. “We want their culture, their ideals, their thoughts to be those of Western civilization. Because for all of its flaws, the civilization we have evolved in Western society is the best we’ve seen so far in human history. I think it needs to be improved upon, but not replaced.”
“If we are not the pre-eminent spacefaring nation [Western civilization] will not survive because the future for humankind is in space and not on earth."
Theresa Hitchens
Vice President, CDI
1779 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
tel: 202-797-5269
fax: 202-462-4559
email: thitchens@cdi.org
