With all the dismal events in the world ... the Kangaroo Trump Trial, the unrelenting invasion at our Southern border, rampant crime and homelessness, wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East ... I thought it might be a good day to post something positive. YAY!
Global Power - On the Seas
Let's start with news (from yesterday) that Russia is sending a (small) fleet of warships to the Caribbean as a gesture to poke a pointy stick in Joe Biden's bleary eyes.
apnews.com/article/russia-ships-caribbean-ukraine-b43c5b448f5803e2c8c1466e4ad7516d
Of course this sounds like we're on the Eve of Destruction, But it's really just the Russians letting Biden know that he stepped over the line when he authorized the Ukrainians to use US long-range missiles to attack targets in Russia ... killing Russian civilians. (Please note I'm not defending Russian aggression in Ukraine ... I am merely stating that Biden has improperly authorized a non-NATO country to utilize US strategic weapons).
Imagine how we might respond if Russia gave long-range missiles to Mexican drug cartels and they began attacking Tucson.
The Russians are legitimately pissed ... but the reality is that the United States remains unrivaled in military power, in spite of Joe's best efforts to destroy military morale.
Unrivaled
Although the Chinese Navy is the world's largest in number of ships, and warmongers want you to be terrified, it is no match for the US. I've written about this in past segments of 'Unrivaled' but this awesome new graphic from Visual Capitalist highlights the reality.
Global Power - On the Seas
Let's start with news (from yesterday) that Russia is sending a (small) fleet of warships to the Caribbean as a gesture to poke a pointy stick in Joe Biden's bleary eyes.
apnews.com/article/russia-ships-caribbean-ukraine-b43c5b448f5803e2c8c1466e4ad7516d
Of course this sounds like we're on the Eve of Destruction, But it's really just the Russians letting Biden know that he stepped over the line when he authorized the Ukrainians to use US long-range missiles to attack targets in Russia ... killing Russian civilians. (Please note I'm not defending Russian aggression in Ukraine ... I am merely stating that Biden has improperly authorized a non-NATO country to utilize US strategic weapons).
Imagine how we might respond if Russia gave long-range missiles to Mexican drug cartels and they began attacking Tucson.
The Russians are legitimately pissed ... but the reality is that the United States remains unrivaled in military power, in spite of Joe's best efforts to destroy military morale.
Unrivaled
Although the Chinese Navy is the world's largest in number of ships, and warmongers want you to be terrified, it is no match for the US. I've written about this in past segments of 'Unrivaled' but this awesome new graphic from Visual Capitalist highlights the reality.
Friends, I'm not saying that there's no possibility of WAR. I'm saying that the real enemies of our rights, freedoms and prosperity are here at home, in the Oval Office, the Senate, the Mayors of major cities and the Governors of 'Blue' states.
China and Russia have little incentive and insufficient capability to attack the United States. Particularly when Biden and the Democratic Socialists are doing it for them.
Future Power - In Space
Next I'd like to talk about two recent developments in Space (the final frontier).
Why is Space Important
100 years ago, the British Empire ruled the waves and thus ruled the World.
I believe that over the next 50-75 years we will go through an enormous transition.
In most respects, it won't be as transformative as the Agricultural Revolution that freed humanity from starvation and led to farms and villages. It won't be as transformative as the Industrial Revolution that freed humanity from the worst of manual toil and concentrated humans in cities.
Perhaps it will come to be known as the Abundance Revolution though it may come to be known as The Second Serfdom..
In the near future the nation that rules Space will rule the World. The reason is simple ... planet Terra is about 71% oceans so, historically, whoever controlled the oceans controlled an area vastly larger than any other nation ... they could rule the World.
- The United States is only the 4th largest by land area. But the oceans are larger than all other nations combined.
Just as oceans were vastly larger than nations, Space is vastly larger than the entire Earth (actually infinite). People once imagined that the ocean was a dangerous liquid desert inhabited by demons (and a few delicious fish). They were wrong.
Today, far too many people imagine that Space is a dangerous empty desert and, therefore, worthless. They are wrong. Space is quite literally filled with energy and resources beyond human comprehension.
Unrivaled
It is disappointing that the United States abandoned the quest for Space following the last Apollo mission 52 years ago. (Two entire generations if you follow The Fourth Turning.) That said, the United States is the only nation to ever make it to the Moon ... we were unrivaled ... we decided (did we really) that pandering to welfare in the present was better than aspiring for prosperity in the future.
Today
Despite the shameful decline in American education, we are still leading in Space. Just this week there were two historic events.
Yesterday, the Boeing Starliner finally made it's first crewed flight, taking two American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Although this is a great success for Boeing/NASA, it is also an embarrassment for America because the project (started in 2014) is more than four years late. The entire Mercury->Gemini->Apollo project to get to the Moon took ten years. NASA/Boeing have taken ten years (and Billions of $$) just to get to orbit.
That said, I wish Godspeed to Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who successfully docked with the ISS today.
The optimistic side of this story is that SpaceX (Elon Musk) beat Boeing by four years, sending American astronauts from American soil in 2020 on the Dragon spacecraft (Ms. Terra and I were there!) Although SpaceX received about half as much money from NASA, they had to develop the Falcon rocket from scratch while Boeing/ULA were able to use surplus, cold-war Atlas-Centaurs.
But, even more amazing is the successful launch of the SpaceX Starship earlier TODAY. Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built (even larger than the Saturn5/Apollo that went to the Moon more than 50 years ago) and is being developed mostly on Elon's dime.
There have been three prior Starship attempts ... each one going somewhat further. Today, the fourth attempt was a complete success, with the spacecraft returning to Earth.
I hate to say this, but it is Capitalism at it's finest. A private company, driven to excellence succeeds, where bureaucratic mediocrity fails despite massive taxpayer funding.
OK ... you are probably thinking "SO, Mr. Terra. We sent a couple of rockets up this week. How the heck is that UNRIVALED??"
I'm glad you asked! Let's look at the bigger picture (I like bigger pictures). Based on the quarterly report from Bryce Tech, SpaceX has launched more spacecraft than everyone else on Earth ... by a wide margin. They launched 20x more satellites than the Chinese (in distant 2nd place).
Seriously, SpaceX launched 525 satellites while ULA (heavily subsidized by NASA) managed 7.
Even MORE amazing. It wasn't a bunch of little pip-squeak satellites vs a few big ones. Nope! SpaceX put more material/mass into Space than everyone else combined.
Conclusion (For Today)
It is my belief, from much study, that humanity (or inhumanity) advances it's technology and knowledge in only two ways: through exploration(frontiers) or wars. A government can pursue either one or the other to stay in power. One is the path to individuality and self-reliance and the other is the path to dependence and servitude.
Frontiers compel us to work together and become one tribe striving against the cruel challenges that Nature poses against our mortal survival. We learn, we adapt, and we prevail ... together. Unity.
War compels us to fracture into a thousand diverse tribes fighting against the cruel challenges that other Humans, who we've been taught to hate, pose against our individual survival. We learn, we adapt, and prevail ... against our neighbors ... against people we don't even know Diversity.
I'm an optimist. I think we Americans are headed for a decade-long shitshow, but I think that Elon/SpaceX will get to the Moon and Mars.
In Space, our Frontier beliefs will eventually prevail over the Democratic Socialist Globalist Elites.
There will be another New World. Another neoTerra. More prosperous and more free. Unfortunately, I'll not live long enough to become a founder of the USAB ... The United States of Asteroid Belters.
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