While traveling in twitter land, I came across this little thing... The Mars Initiative. Now, you wouldn't believe me if I didn't quote the site, so I'm just going to let their words explain why the Neo-Nazis are planning are Mars base.
The objective that a Mars colonization plan would set for itself is daunting, so we should remind ourselves that we have a hundred years to fulfill it before our civilization becomes so decadent, impoverished and oppressive that the plan will become impossible for Western Man. On the scale of hominid history we would be attempting to continue the evolution of humanity as a species, for the move into space will not be just a move for racial survival, in itself it will signify a human upgrade. Any migration selects the best, leaving weaker members behind, and human migration into space will be no different. ~http://www.marsinitiative.org/
At first I was outraged. But, after unwilling following the blogging golden rule: "Do not post while outraged", I felt bad (for .00001 nano seconds) for the Neo-Nazis. This plan will fail pitifully and it seems like this is a desperate attempt by a dying organization to get attention. However, for this blog post, I'm assuming this idea is serious.
First, the space community is not supporting this in anyway. I've found the space community to be very sensitive to how its actions effect its public image. This is why Virgin Galactic turned down a $1 million dollar deal to shoot a pornographic film in space and why NASA is so squeamish about sex in space. It seems that the space community want to have a clean image, so, to protect this image, they will completely dissociate themselves from The Mars Initiative. No private space company will provide rockets to The Mars Initiative and NASA is just going to laugh at this idea. If The Mars Initiative were to build rockets themselves, they will have trouble accessing patented rocket technology.
At one time, the Neo-Nazis were prompting an idea to send all of the in the US African Americans "back to Africa". They planned to establish a racial colony in Africa. It's very ironic that all the racists are leaving Earth. It would be less weird if the Neo-nazis where telling all black people in the world to leave because, at least, they would be consistent with their historic tone. It really shows how much the Neo-Nazis are on the defensive.
Space exploration and expansion is for HUMANITY not INHUMANITY! ~biffgriff
I also think the Overview Effect will have a devastating effect on The Mars Initiative. Edgar Mitchell said the Overview Effect "gave him a profound sense of connectedness, with a feeling of bliss and timelessness. He was overwhelmed by the experience. He became profoundly aware that each and every atom in the Universe was connected in some way, and on seeing Earth from space he had an understanding that all the humans, animals and systems were a part of the same thing, a synergistic whole. It was an interconnected euphoria" (Universe Today). If the settlers of the Mars Initiative lose their racist opinions because of the overview effect, they will lose the support of their ground control who have not had this revelation and who have spend a lot of money to have a Mars colony devoted to their ideals. If those ideals of racial purity are lost in space, then I fear the Neo-nazi movement who remained behind will take violent action against the colonists. losing ground support would mean death of a crew in space
What if only a small minority of the crew of The Mars Initiative experience the overview effect? Then we could see the first war in space as the crew fights for the direction of the program. At the best, the tension on that ship and on the colony will be so high that the crew will be ineffective.
This idea, I fear, will be a huge mess if implemented. I wish the Neo-Nazi movement will die will the dawn of the space age. Hopefully, as more people see humanity as a united community, racism will die.
(Disclaimer: I'm black, so I'm biased on this topic)
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Should the space community actively promote against this? Should we save them if the Overview Effect cripples their mission? Can NASA and other government space agencies stop them from launching?
