Wasting Money, Resources, Time, Energy 101

The sun sets and we turn on our lights. In our fast-paced lives, we often forget to look up to our starry friends. Does it not fascinate you that some of the stars you look at were once observed by Einstein, Newton, Galileo, Da Vinci, Aristotle, and even dinosaurs? We might not have seen these personalities or creatures, but something far out at a distance appears to have witnessed the story of mankind slowly unfolding.

These twinkly objects have hardly changed since the first man appeared on the face of the earth. The stars have seen the metamorphosis of mankind from monkeys to homo sapiens, witnessing our evolution over thousands or even millennia—and they continue to do so. This observation begs the question: at what point will the stars witness our complete evolution? In other words, if the stars had to witness when we'd stop our savagery, at what point or year would that be? Or would the stars ever get that opportunity?

Whether it was for food, resources, land, water, or even as trivial as having an edge over another individual, we've engaged in fights—big and small. Yet now that we have an adequate understanding of one another, with our history serving as both guide and companion, why do we still engage in such conflicts? How are we any different from dogs, lions, or gorillas involved in territorial fighting?

If we continue to engage in these trivial conflicts, how are we ever going to focus on a bigger picture—the vastness of Space or the Universe? The resources, energy, time, and effort expended on these skirmishes would be better spent on humans suffering through various diseases and afflictions. Once we have a decent group of people in better shape, we can channel our resources to the next frontier.

There has long been an argument since the Space Race: "Why not solve problems on Earth first before venturing to Space?" This is a valid question. When people are suffering, stricken with poverty and illness, and when basic human needs are scarcely met, it's important to divert attention and resources to uplifting communities before undertaking expensive space ventures that require heavy planning, capital, and resources. Additionally, what exactly are we to accomplish in space even if we redirect our energy and resources in that direction? After all, comets or planets containing diamonds or gold are rare—and it's not as if we have them in the vicinity of our solar system. Nor do we have any materials, energy sources, or medicinal cures that would help end the suffering of mankind.

To answer the above question, it's necessary to identify where mankind collectively wastes money, talent, and resources. The biggest waste appears to be the military. Just take a closer look at the defense budget of all the countries. It appears to be taking a significant chunk of the economy. While the safety and security of citizens is paramount, one must ask: why is such security needed in the first place? Why is it so hard for us to restrain ourselves from engaging with weaker nations?

The answer, it seems, is ego. A group of individuals simply cannot see others as their equal counterpart and resorts to myriad trivial reasons—racism, colorism, casteism, sexual orientation—to distinguish themselves. It is as if some individuals are purposely disallowing the whole of mankind to make progress. Ego and the desire to control the masses might be the biggest driving forces behind these actions.

An argument can stem from this observation. What if some of these individuals invented or discovered something so useful to mankind that they became billionaires, and once they achieved that, they began exercising their will over the masses? This is how capitalism began, where the individual was incentivized based on the remarkable invention they made. Such individuals might have the resources to launch themselves into space and provide blueprints for future space exploration for the next generation. Yet, I believe that while space exploration carried out by these individuals can provide guidance, it also has a big potential to divide people even more and introduce greater chaos on Earth—ultimately pushing back progress in the field of space.

Space exploration is an expensive feat, and only a handful of agencies and individuals are able to successfully carry out missions. Although more individuals are stepping forward to launch space startups, their closure rate has been alarmingly high—mostly because space demands heavy resources and continued capital. That's why government-based agencies are able to make a lot more progress than individual startups. While there has been an advent of private ventures in space, a sustainable, robust business model for these ventures remains to be seen. SpaceX's breakthrough with reusable rockets provides some promise, and while that is one of the most amazing engineering and scientific endeavors taken to bring down the cost of launching rockets into space, it still addresses only a fraction of the behemoth costs and resources involved.

Meanwhile, while amazing progress is being made in the space industry, the defense industry appears to be gulping down even larger chunks of resources. Yes, many military breakthroughs have paved the way for space exploration (case in point—the introduction of the United States Space Force as the sixth branch of the military), yet the inherent purpose of such agencies is still to keep tabs on other nations. The objective of the U.S. Space Force is to address threats emerging from space—threats posed by nations that are rivals to the U.S. Consequently, the objective of the Space Force does not truly serve mankind. It is currently undertaking ventures solely to remain ahead of its enemies. While these ventures will require heavy research for space, and the learnings may eventually benefit space exploration, only time will tell when such benefits are fully realized for mankind.