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Comment by coretx | Hacker News Reader

Why on Earth would you help them militairise outerspace and draw a crosshair on your forehead while being at it ? As if current spacejunk isn't enough of a threat to humanities future in space already. This sounds all awesome at first, but think about it for a second.

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Any satellite is likely going up regardless.

It may make it safer if you help stop bad actors getting access to what will be there anyway. Some terrorist would probably love to steer one satellite into another... or whatever options control gives.

Armies are organizations build around aggression per definition and therefore _are_ the terrorist in outerspace. The good guys in space are found at civil presence such as the ISS. People from all nations and cultures working together in peace. A symbol of hope for humanity. Much unlike military organizations with boots on the ground.

> Why on Earth would you help them militairise outerspace

Why on Earth is an interesting question. Why in space might have some reasons though ;)

The record that this competition will give participants ensures that the brightest simply will not participate in events like this.

What?

You don't run icebreaker on Chrome if you want to stay alive in the sprawl... It's like taking a knife to a nuke fight.

Because they would do it anyway. I've heard "stories" of attackers gaining control of a sat, "flipping it" to prevent it from listening to incoming commands, and then asking for a ransom from the original owners.

Man space is going to be militarized no matter what. Haven't you seen star wars?

I'd rather go the Star Trek route.

The part where the Starfleet cruises around space in giant militarized weapon platforms with phase cannons and torpedos, engaging in de facto military conflicts?

Starfleet isn't a military. Starfleet is a pacifist post-scarcity utopia dedicated to scientific and intellectual pursuit - militarism is an atavistic, primitive vice that humans have evolved beyond at that point.

That Starfleet just happens to use a military chain of command and fleet structure doesn't mean they've "militarized space" in any way. It's just a unique expression of Earth culture, and nothing more.

Starfleet is peaceful, it's everyone else in the galaxy who's warlike, because they fear Starfleet's freedom and way of life. If it weren't for those duplicitous Romulans and thuggish Klingons, Starfleet might not even need every ship to have enough firepower to boil the oceans off of a planet. But peace has to be defended.

Or would you rather have the Alpha Quadrant be run by aliens?

In comparison to Star Wars, yes.

Prisoner's dilemma, basically. If your country doesn't militairise outer space, others still might - and then you'll be even worse off.

"others still might" is a cheap way to disregard any ethical consideration.

I can always make up a hypothetical scenario where I become the victim of some aggression... to justify being a bully.

Even if this is your motivation (we will never know for sure, right?), it could still decrease probability of you being the victim of said aggression.

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