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Comment by d-e-r-e-k | Hacker News Reader

There’s too many problems here on earth for me to get excited about a trip to the moon

Given how many of these problems are self-inflicted, maybe we should focus more on trips to the moon and beyond, not less.

Yeah, if we cut back a bit on the war crimes we could easily fund both more moon missions and cool science, as well as a shit ton of great programs to help people with the basics like food and rent and health care.

Or as my parents would say, "socialism", as if that were a bad word.

Now war. They think that's worth it, even if it's also bad.

The US spends more per capita, and even as a share of GDP, on healthcare out of public funds than some advanced industrialized states that have universal systems, as well as spending even more on healthcare out of private funds than out of public funds. If we didn’t have a system which expended vast quantities of additional resources in order to assure that a substantial subset of the population is denied needed healthcare and instead just provided the needed healthcare, we could fund all those other things without cutting back on the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace, either direct or those that we subsidize that are executed by other regimes.

We still should cut down (ideally to zero) on war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace, but the reason is because those things are unqualified evil on their own, not because doing so is necessary to fund healthcare and other priorities, which it very much is not.

Optimism will get you through.... Humans have bumpy rides, but in the aggregate we figure it out and move on

In the aggregate we live miserable lives and then die.

That was true the last time we went to the Moon, but this time in the aggregate we live less miserable lives.

non sequitur ... less of a thing is still the thing.

I completely understand and agree. But there is still something magical about spaceflight that will forever put me in awe. It’s a small moment of wonder in a world of disappointment. I’ll take anything I can get these days

Agreed. I remember following the various Mars rover missions of the 1990s-2010s with avid interest. I have now lost my interest in space completely. The house is on fire and we're going on holiday again? It's beginning to feel almost indecent.

I’m sorry but things are definitely better than they were in the 2000’s. Even this war is smaller scale than Iraq/Afghanistan, and seems like it will be over much quicker. Even the economy isn’t nearly as bad.

But the Mars missions, the ISS, and all the rest was not indecent. You were not wrong to enjoy those things back then. And you wouldn’t be wrong to enjoy this now.

It’s perfectly healthy to accept that the world is not perfect AND to still enjoy things in life. If you feel otherwise I highly encourage you to change. Those who improve the world do not feel defeated.

The condescension is uncalled for, this is simply a difference of priorities. In terms of our various ecological crises, the situation is absolutely not better than 20 years ago. My view is that the opportunity cost of manned space exploration is now unjustifiable. The resources consumed would be better allocated elsewhere.

> In terms of our various ecological crises, the situation is absolutely not better than 20 years ago.

The situation is objectively better, renewables are now seen as not only a viable alternative but a superior financial alternative as well. It’s literally cheaper to go green than to build more fossil fuels. That’s why 92% of new capacity is renewables… globally!

The trends are much more encouraging than they were when Al Gore released an Inconvenient Truth. Instead of renewables and EVs being seen as jokes, they’re almost universally seen as the path forward.

We spend literal trillions on renewables, we spend less on war, billion of people are in a better financial situation… I just don’t see much that would preclude spending a few billion on this type of mission every few years.

On top of the science and spending on highly technical jobs, technology and experience like this is not useless, and building on it will reap rewards that you cannot even imagine yet.

The trip to the moon just makes me depressed about all the problems here because they seem so pointless in perspective.

In fact a trip to the Moon gives me hope for our species—that not everything is shit.

Shame, you would have missed Apollo then too, if you were living in the 60’s instead. Would you have regretted it?

The bad things should make you even more thankful for the good. It’s perfectly healthy to allow yourself to enjoy the positive things in life, especially during the dark times.

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