July 3, 2008
Why Should Anyone Care About Space Politics?
Cry havoc, The Space Review
"Did you know that NASA is a fascist organization? How about the Constellation program--did you realize that it was fascist too? Or the Apollo program? What about the philosophical/spiritual observation that Arthur C. Clarke defined as "the Overview Effect" whereby from space, Earth's political borders and squabbles disappear? Did you realize that this philosophy--perhaps even Arthur C. Clarke himself--is fascist?"
Editor's note: I can't find a thing in this article that I disagree with. The inmates are indeed trying to seize control of the asylum via the blogosphere and Dwayne Day has caught them red handed.
There are many people who proudly claim to know how to do space exploration/utilization etc. better than NASA. Fact is, its probably not that hard to do. I just wish that all of these so-called experts would stop waving their arms, throwing incendiary political labels around, and arguing with each other, and instead, put their brains to work DOING the things they talk about.
If they did this, then perhaps some of the space community (whatever that community is these days) could make some tangible progress. And tangible progress is something you can build upon and point to as a way to do things better. Yet right now, when they all start talking at once, especially when they invoke goofy, revisionist, and paranoid politics, the resulting cacophony generates one thing: noise.
And boo hoo hoo the political candidates won't listen to the space community. Would you if you were them? Where do you start? Who speaks for whom? How do you interpret this noise?
I try not to ascribe any political labels to NASA's behavior - if for no other reason than the agency is a hodge podge of policies left over from a dozen presidencies and many more Congresses. None of these policies has ever been fully realized - or implemented. Instead, I apply functional descriptors: NASA is slow, ponderous, out of touch, stuck in a rut, breathing its own fumes, clueless when it comes to how the private sector actually works, incapable of understanding the real world outside its gates, and living on borrowed time.
NASA is also one of Earth's greatest collection of inspired space explorers, scientists, and engineers who would, at the end of the day, simply like to explore space - by whatever means possible and DO SOMETHING with out a bunch of political nonsense determining what they do - and how they do it.
There is no conspiracy. There is no fascistic cult in command of NASA. NASA is just broken. Fix it or replace it. Just make up your mind and then do it.
Anyone who invokes fascism, Nazi's or their Germanic catch phrases, or other totalitarian nonsense to describe NASA, has a screw loose. Make that a bunch of screws. Nor are these people part of any reasonable solution when it comes to NASA and space exploration. Rather, they are part of the problem - indeed, they are the worst part of it.
Curiously, the very same people who would have you think that NASA is "fascist" readily seek NASA contracts and/or derive their income as consultants or employees of companies funded by NASA. If you folks are going to apply extremist labels such as "fascist" to NASA then you need to deal with the fact that your acceptance or search for NASA funding, in your own twisted logic, makes you a "collaborator".
Hmmm ... hadn't thought about that aspect of your name calling, now had you?
Posted by kcowing at July 3, 2008 12:03 AMKeith, Thanks for the link to this article. I agree 100% and am glad that someone like Dwayne is calling a spade a spade.
Bennett Dawson
Posted by: Bennett Dawson at July 2, 2008 8:38 PMPoint 1: I suspect a substantial fragment of the US populace really does divide public matters into those that are (a) market-oriented, (b) socialistic, and (c) fascist. A shortage of subtlety and imagination no doubt, but the country has never been short on people who pride themselves on their rude "practicality."
Point 2: It's probably really fun!!!! to ding NASA brass, managers of traditional aerospace firms, aging civil service employees, and everyone else who isn't a courant in the various ALT-SPACE theologies with being genocidal lackeys of the ruling class. Think of the kids in the 1960s who labeled all their opponents "pigs." God, the sex -- er, entertainment -- they had!
Point 3: Rand Simberg and the Chair Force Engineer and Jon Goff and others in that crew are never going to get within 500 miles of shaping US space policy. There are other, saner bloggers on the internet (and even more non-bloggers) who kept their cool and their tempers and long perspectives and ultimately their voices will prevail.
Yeah, good work by Dwayne Day. Good on you for pointing to it.
-ms
Posted by: mike shupp at July 2, 2008 11:39 PMWhile I agree with the general point that anyone who considers NASA a fascist agency is, to put it mildly, INSANE, having read Jonah Goldberg's book "Liberal Fascism", I find Dwayne Day's criticism of the book to be utterly laughable - and typically liberal. As laughable as I find those who misuse Goldberg's extensive research to proclaim NASA as fascist.
Posted by: Brad at July 3, 2008 8:45 AMYour editor's notes are probably the most succinct (and honest) analysis of the space situation right now. Thanks for telling it like it is--whatever the space 'community' thinks.
Brian Orlotti
Posted by: Brian Orlotti at July 3, 2008 10:39 AMEasy identifiers for everyone to young to have experienced Fascismo and to lazy to research it: Militarized syndicalist enterprises, black shirts, truncheons, forced consumption of castor oil. Anyone from NASA make you guys drink castor oil lately? Thought not.
I'm shocked after scanning Dwayne's Google search link. When did the blogging rocketeers and armchair astronauts snap? Rand? What happened to you, brother?
Il Duce himself wrote the quote below. Real definition by the man that coined the phrase. They were anti-capitalist and anti-communist relying on a mystical view of the State:
Anti-individualistic, the fascist conception of life stresses the importance of the State and accepts the individual only insofar as his interests coincide with those of the State, which stands for the conscience and the universal will of man as a historic entity.... The fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value.... Fascism is therefore opposed to that form of democracy which equates a nation to the majority, lowering it to the level of the largest number.... We are free to believe that this is the century of authority, a century tending to the 'right', a Fascist century. If the nineteenth century was the century of the individual we are free to believe that this is the 'collective' century, and therefore the century of the State.
Keith,
While I disagree with Dwayne's latest preachy column -- as I do most of his non-historical stuff -- and tend to agree with the general policy bias of some of the bloggers Dwayne (and your commenters above) deride...
I also agree with your statement of what NASA is, good and bad. The status quo (in my non-libertarian view) of really smart and committed people trying to serve what economists call a public good, but actually being trapped like flies in bureaucratic amber, is and always has been a tragedy.
Small companies or teams aren't morally better than large bureaucracies, they just face market tests on a more frequent -- and survival-determining -- basis than large contractors/agencies. That tends to keep them more aligned with their customers.
Mike Griffin will hopefully be remembered long after ESAS is forgotten for having started COTS and buying parabolic flight services and hiring smart guys like Alan Stern and Pete Worden, along with a host of other seeds he has planted.
And maybe, just maybe, the small guys and big guys will find ways to work together, and help those inside NASA produce revolutionary results for the ever-declining budgets that NASA faces as far as the eye (with Medicare prescription glasses) can see.
- Jim
Actually, most of us agree that the guards have taken over the NASA asylum - Michael Griffin, Doc Horowitz and Marsha Ivins, and that the result is ESAS - Constellation, Orion and Ares I.
We are also pretty much in agreement that the inmates are so afraid of losing their cells, they are unwilling to revolt.
Ares I will never fly. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you will escape from your cell here on the Good planet Earth.
But what do we get from our trusted NASAWatch?
Stay the Course!
Posted by: Outraged Inmate at July 7, 2008 12:55 AM"I find Dwayne Day's criticism of the book to be utterly laughable - and typically liberal. As laughable as I find those who misuse Goldberg's extensive research to proclaim NASA as fascist."
Gotta agree with Brad's assessment of both the book review and the idiotic twisting of Goldberg to make the point about NASA.
Hi Keith,
Having read the book Liberal Fascism, I find Dwayne's summarizations and generalizations to be inaccurate. His own personal political agenda is apparent in his writing and he unfortunately allows this to color his analysis.
My advice for people is to read the book yourself and come to your own conclusions. There are times when Goldberg goes overboard in his characterizations and at times his tone is screechy preachy. But if you like political history of the 20th century, then I'd say to give the book a read.
Jim
Posted by: Jim Plaxco at July 8, 2008 12:30 PM