Imagine a large park with a huge stage with a lone podium. The grass can not be seen because of the numbers of people crowding trying to hear to politician's words. News cameras from every network focus on the stage. As you approach the scene, the words become clear.
"Thus, I declare that the great nation of the United States of America with have its own Moon and Mars base in the next 20 years. They will be named Base Eagle and Base Freedom, respectively. Through these two bases we will harness the resources of other planets and gain a competitive edge for the future!"
The crowd then erupts into a chant of "USA!, USA!, USA!".
Luckily, this is fiction. The world is moving away from continuing colonialism in space and instead they are working with each other to further mankind. This is great progress for us, but it brings the special challenge of Watery Motivation.
The term was first introduced to me in a writing class were we read Martha C. Nussbaum's Compassion & Terror. Her work attempts to expose the difficulties of international action on the downsides of globalism and it attempts to prove why nations can work together to solve those problems. While reading this work, the idea of Watery Motivation struck me the most.
Watery Motivation comes up when Nussbaum reminds us of Aristotle's criticism of Plato's Republic which read "there are two things above all that make people love and care for something, the thought that is is all theirs, and the thought that it is the only one they have. Neither of these will be present in [The Republic]". Nor do they seem to be present in international space development.
It seems to get worse for international activity as Nussbuam disproves the idea that we can dissolve the attachments to the local world to allow for international cooperation. But, she goes on to claim that "a patriotism constrained by respect for human dignity and by a vivid sense of the real losses and needs of others" will allow for international response to the world's challenges. I believe this same reason will allow for peace during the land rush that we will see at the dawn of the next space age.
So yes, we will get Base Eagle and Base Freedom and we will get to chant "USA!" in the world of international space development. But, out of respect for the needs of others, we won't hog the Moon and Mars for ourselves. Our acknowledgment of human dignity will prevent us from causing suffering with our activities in space. Thus, no matter how political our activity in space is, we can still work with others. It all comes down to whether or not we constrain our patriotism.
~In Case You Skimmed
-Respect for others will allow for highly political national space programs to coexist with international space goals
~Reactions
-Is this dangerous, does allow for patriotism to exist in space bring us to close to shattering the dream of a peaceful space age.
~Resources
Nussbaum, Martha C. “Compassion and Terror.” Daedalus. 132 (Winter 2003): 10-26.
