Space exploration is more than a pipe dream for many people, including myself. I recently wrote an article on Urban Times about #Penny4NASA, the people’s efforts to increase the NASA budget to a penny on the dollar. Because this fight (like so many others) is important, I’m continuing my support here as well, as I’m all about nurturing inspiration. This is a government agency which is funded by the taxpayers’ dollars, and it has been achieving returns unlike any that a corporate shareholder is likely to receive. We’re not talking about $$ returns, because the activities that NASA, other international space agencies, and the scientific community pursue go way beyond fiscal and have long-lasting effects that change our society. We know how little we’ve truly gotten back from the institutions that we revere, like financial and educational (to name a few). We’re living the shattering consequences right now all over the world. So, when are we going to start taking our futures seriously?
We thrive in a technological age largely because of the programs that agencies like NASA produce through innovation. Yet each year, our government’s outlook becomes more and more short-term to the point that we are now on the precipice of absolute destruction (having passed social stagnation decades ago). Our society needs to return to long-term investments and outlooks. Today’s investors are looking for a good fiscal return, but they’re not seeing the need to protect the public domain. I believe that the majority of our problems can be solved if we simply choose the right targets for the right reasons. If we’re going to be greedy, we need to look past the tangible, because that’s where the returns are astronomical in terms of development as well as potential. We need to:
- Explore our universe to better understand ourselves;
- Understand that everything is interconnected, so we need to know how we affect one another;
- Allow audaciousness to re-enter visionary expeditions;
- Remember that science and art are necessary parts of the human experience;
- Collaborate globally on projects that impact humanity;
- Support those groups which actually give us a chance to reach up and touch the stars and beyond;
- Never stop dreaming BIG, which will always be possible if we embrace the craziest possibility and make them reality.
This and more can be accomplished by helping NASA get the budget they deserve and need. Because our world needs innovators more than ever, and NASA has the biggest dreams of us all. And that’s worth protecting and nurturing.
p.s. They also have another petition site, Penny4NASA.net, which allows for you to get directly involved in contacting your representatives in Congress and the White House. Now’s the time to make your voice heard by those people who actually decide NASA’s budget. We need to make them realize that the decision isn’t only theirs.
