{"id":304446,"date":"2021-07-21T14:35:07","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T11:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth\/"},"modified":"2021-07-21T14:35:07","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T11:35:07","slug":"the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"#The billionaire space race epitomizes capitalism\u2019s destructive obsession with growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3bbf9def21f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3bbf9def21f\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth\/#Growth_wars\" >Growth wars<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth\/#The_human_condition\" >The human condition<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth\/#An_inconvenient_truth\" >An inconvenient truth<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth\/#Zero_gravity\" >Zero gravity<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth\/#Mine_is_bigger_than_yours\" >Mine is bigger than yours<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth\/#Prosperity_as_health\" >Prosperity as health<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth\/#The_denial_of_death\" >The denial of death<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-billionaire-space-race-epitomizes-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-with-growth\/#Beyond_lockdown\" >Beyond lockdown<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#The billionaire space race epitomizes capitalism\u2019s destructive obsession with growth<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>Mars ain\u2019t the kind of place to raise your kids, laments the Rocket Man in Elton John\u2019s timeless classic. In fact, it\u2019s cold as hell, but that doesn\u2019t seem to worry a new generation of space entrepreneurs intent on colonizing the \u201cfinal frontier\u201d as fast as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t get me wrong. I\u2019m no sullen technophobe. As lockdown projects go, NASA\u2019s landing of the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/as-the-perseverance-rover-lands-on-mars-theres-a-lot-we-already-know-about-the-red-planet-from-meteorites-found-on-earth-155459\">Perseverance rover<\/a> on the surface of the red planet earlier this year was a hell of a blast. Watching it reminded me that I once led a high school debate defending the motion: this house believes that humanity should reach for the stars.<\/p>\n<p>It must have been around the time that Caspar Weinberger was trying to persuade President Nixon <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2013\/09\/ending-apollo-1968\/\">not to cancel<\/a> the Apollo space program. My brothers and I watched the monochrome triumph of the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/apollo\/apollo11.html\">Apollo 11 landing<\/a> avidly in 1969. We witnessed the near disaster of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/apollo\/missions\/apollo13.html\">Apollo 13<\/a> \u2013 immortalized in a 1995 Hollywood <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2014\/apr\/17\/apollo-13-tom-hanks-space-ron-howard\">film<\/a> \u2013 when Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) and two rookie astronauts narrowly escaped with their lives by using the Lunar Module as an emergency life raft. We knew it was exciting up there.<\/p>\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Apollo 13 | &quot;Houston, We Have a Problem&quot;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YwG4F-16Tno?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p>I remember later going to see Apollo 13 (the film) with a friend who wasn\u2019t born when the mission itself took place. \u201cWhat did you think?\u201d I asked as we came out of the cinema. \u201cIt was OK,\u201d said my friend. \u201cJust not very believable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But we kids were glued to our black-and-white TV sets the entire week of the original mission. We watched in horror as CO\u2082 levels rose in the Lunar Module, we endured the endless blackout as the returning astronauts plunged perilously back to Earth, and we held our breath with the rest of the world as the expected four minutes stretched to five and hope began to fade. It was a full six minutes before the camera finally came into focus on the command module\u2019s parachutes \u2013 safely deployed above the Pacific Ocean. We felt the endorphin rush. We knew it was believable.<\/p>\n<p>That was 1970. This is now. And here I am again on the edge of another sofa, in the lingering uncertainty of the time of COVID-19, waiting for signs of arrival from another re-entry blackout on another barren rock, devoid of breathable atmosphere, 200 million miles away. When the Perseverance Rover finally touches down on the surface of Mars: that same exhilaration, that same endorphin rush. It\u2019s quite difficult to witness the jubilation behind the masks at NASA\u2019s mission control without feeling a glimmer of vicarious joy.<\/p>\n<p>But NASA\u2019s clever <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a> experiment is just the tip of an expansionary iceberg. A teaser, if you will, for an ambitious dream that is being driven faster and faster by huge commercial interests. A curious twist in a debate that has been raging now for almost half a century.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/411858\/original\/file-20210719-21-1wp8mnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"Red Martian landscape.\" width=\"600\" height=\"340\"\/><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fspace%2F2021%2F07%2F21%2Fbillionaire-space-race-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-growth-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Nasa\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover used its dual-camera Mastcam-Z imager to capture this image. a hill about 2.5km away. NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS\" data-title=\"Share Nasa\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover used its dual-camera Mastcam-Z imager to capture this image. a hill about 2.5km away. NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Nasa\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover used its dual-camera Mastcam-Z imager to capture this image. a hill about 2.5km away. NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Nasa\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover used its dual-camera Mastcam-Z imager to capture this image. a hill about 2.5km away. NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS<\/figcaption><\/figure><figcaption\/><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Growth_wars\"><\/span>Growth wars<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Ever since 1972, when a team of MIT scientists published a massively influential report on the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clubofrome.org\/publication\/the-limits-to-growth\/\">Limits to Growth<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/366\/6468\/950\">economists have been fighting<\/a> about whether it\u2019s possible for the economy to expand forever. Those who believe it can <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>eal to the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/andrewmcafee.org\/more-from-less\/overivew\">power of technology<\/a> to \u201cdecouple\u201d economic activity from its effects on the planet. Those (like me) who believe it can\u2019t point to the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/332500379_Is_Green_Growth_Possible\">limited evidence for decoupling<\/a> at anything like the pace that\u2019s needed to avoid a climate emergency or prevent a catastrophic decline in biodiversity.<\/p>\n<p>The growth debate often hangs on the power you attribute to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> to save us. Usually, it\u2019s the technophiles arguing for infinite growth on a finite planet \u2013 sometimes putting their hopes in speculative technologies such as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/new-co-capture-technology-is-not-the-magic-bullet-against-climate-change-115413\">direct air capture<\/a> or dangerous ones like nuclear power. And usually, it\u2019s the skeptics arguing for a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timjackson.org.uk\/postgrowth\">post-growth economy<\/a>. But the simple division between technophiles and technophobes has never been particularly helpful. Very few growth skeptics reject technology completely, no one at all is asking humanity to return to the cave.<\/p>\n<p>My own research teams at the University of Surrey have been <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cusp.ac.uk\/team\/team\/t_jackson\/\">exploring the vital role<\/a> of sustainable technology in transforming the economy for almost three decades now. But we\u2019ve also shown how the dynamics of capitalism \u2013 in particular its relentless pursuit of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/05\/27\/opinion\/sunday\/lets-be-less-productive.html\">productivity growth<\/a> \u2013 continually push society towards materialistic goals, and undermine those parts of the economy such as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timjackson.org.uk\/pwg\">care, craft, and creativity<\/a>, which are essential to our quality of life.<\/p>\n<p>And now suddenly, along comes a group of self-confessed technology lovers finally admitting that the planet is too small for us. Yes, you were right, they imply: the Earth cannot sustain infinite growth. That\u2019s why we have to expand into space.<\/p>\n<p>Before it spends <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/space\/top-10-what-are-the-top-10-most-expensive-space-missions\/\">trillions of dollars<\/a> littering its <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esa.int\/Safety_Security\/Space_Debris\/The_cost_of_space_debris#:%7E:text=Space%20debris%20is%20expensive%2C%20and%20will%20become%20even%20more%20so&amp;text=For%20satellites%20in%20geostationary%20orbit,higher%20than%205%E2%80%9310%25.\">techno-junk<\/a> around the solar system, this house believes that humanity should pay a little more attention to what\u2019s happening right here and now on this planet. What just happened? Did somebody move the goalposts? Something is wrong. Maybe it\u2019s me. One thing I know for sure. I\u2019m no longer the same kid I was \u2013 the one from the debating society. This house believes that humanity should grow the fuck up.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_human_condition\"><\/span>The human condition<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Perhaps ironically, it was from space that we saw it first. In October 1957, the Soviets sent an unmanned orbital satellite called <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/imagegallery\/image_feature_924.html\">Sputnik<\/a> into space. It was one of those odd moments in history (like the coronavirus) that dramatically reshapes our <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> world. Sputnik kicked off the space race, intensified the arms race, and heightened the cold war. It was a huge blow to US self-esteem not to be the first nation to reach space and it was the jolt it used to kickstart the Apollo Moon shot. No one likes coming second, especially the most powerful people on the planet.<\/p>\n<p>Sputnik also signaled the beginning of a new relationship between humanity and its earthly home. As the political philosopher,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/entries\/arendt\/\">Hannah Arendt<\/a> remarked in the prologue to her 1958 masterpiece, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.co.uk\/books\/edition\/The_Human_Condition\/bGlwDwAAQBAJ\">The Human Condition<\/a>, going into space allowed us to grasp our planetary predicament for the first time in history. It was a reminder that \u201cthe Earth is the quintessence of the human condition\u201d.\u00a0 And nature itself, \u201cfor all we know, may be unique in providing human beings with a habitat in which they can move and breathe without effort and without artifice\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Fair point. And nothing we\u2019ve learned in the intervening years has changed that prognosis. Mars may be the most habitable planet in the solar system, outside our own. But it\u2019s still a very far cry from the beauty of home \u2013 whose fragility we only truly learned to appreciate fully from the images sent back to us from space.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center zoomable\">\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/411210\/original\/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A view of Earth rising from the Moon.\" width=\"600\" height=\"480\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/411210\/original\/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/411210\/original\/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"A view of Earth rising from the Moon.\" width=\"600\" height=\"480\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fspace%2F2021%2F07%2F21%2Fbillionaire-space-race-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-growth-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Earthrise. NASA\" data-title=\"Share Earthrise. NASA on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Earthrise. NASA on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Earthrise. NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure><figcaption\/><\/figure>\n<p>Nature photographer Galen Rowell once called William Anders\u2019 iconic photo <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/johnson\/home\/earthrise.html\">Earthrise<\/a> \u2013 taken from the Apollo 8 module in lunar orbit \u2013 \u201cthe most influential environmental photograph ever taken\u201d. Earthrise brought home to us, in one astonishing image, the stark reality that this shining orb was \u2013 and still is \u2013 humanity\u2019s best chance for anything that might meaningfully be called the \u201cgood life\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Its beauty is our beauty. Its fragility is our fragility. And its peril is our peril.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"An_inconvenient_truth\"><\/span>An inconvenient truth<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In the very same year that Arendt published The Human Condition, a Shell executive named Charles Jones presented <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.climatefiles.com\/trade-group\/american-petroleum-institute\/1958-air-pollution-research-program-smoke-fumes\/\">a paper<\/a> to the fossil fuel industry\u2019s trade group, the American Petroleum Institute, warning of the impact of carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion on the atmosphere. It was early evidence of climate change.<\/p>\n<p>It was also evidence, according to lawsuits <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/ng-interactive\/2021\/jun\/30\/climate-crimes-fossil-fuels-cities-states-interactive\">now being filed<\/a> by cities and states in the US, that companies like Shell knew it was happening more than 60 years ago \u2013 three decades before James Hansen\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/grist.org\/article\/james-hansens-legacy-scientists-reflect-on-climate-change-in-1988-2018-and-2048\/\">scientific testimony<\/a> to Congress in 1988 brought global warming to public attention. And they did nothing about it. Worse, argue plaintiffs like the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/eu.delawareonline.com\/story\/news\/2020\/09\/10\/delaware-sues-exxon-chevron-and-bp-role-climate-change\/3457202001\/\">state of Delaware<\/a>, lied over and again to cover up this \u201cinconvenient truth\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Why such a thing could happen is now clear. Evidence of their impact was a direct threat to the profits of some of the most powerful corporations on the planet. Profit is the bedrock of capitalism. And as I argue in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timjackson.org.uk\/postgrowth\">my new book<\/a>, we have allowed capitalism to trump everything: work, life, hope \u2013 even good governance. The most enlightened governments in the world have turned a blind eye to the need for urgent action. Now we\u2019re on the verge of being too late to fix it. Achieving net-zero by 2050 is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/2050-is-too-late-we-must-drastically-cut-emissions-much-sooner-121512\">no longer enough<\/a>. We need much more, much faster to avoid ending up in an unliveable <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/hothouse-earth-our-planet-has-been-here-before-heres-what-it-looked-like-101413\">hothouse<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Even as I write, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/10\/us\/west-heat-wave-death-valley.html\">record-breaking temperatures<\/a>, 10-20\u2103 above the seasonal average, have forced citizens on the west coast of North America into <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2021\/07\/01\/portland-heatwave-like-microwave-hairdryer-blowing\/\">underground shelters<\/a> to avoid the searing heat. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/us-wildfires-firefighters-grapple-with-raging-blazes-as-temperatures-soar-to-54c-in-californias-baking-death-valley-12354197\">Wildfires<\/a> are raging in California\u2019s Death Valley, where temperatures have reached an astonishing 54\u2103. On the storm-struck east coast, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/jul\/09\/new-york-city-storm-flooding-climate-change\">floodwaters<\/a> have inundated the New York subway system. Thousands remain homeless and hundreds are still missing, meanwhile, as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/germany-and-belgium-floods-rescuers-search-for-hundreds-of-missing-as-more-than-120-die-in-historic-disaster-12357532\">historic flooding<\/a> across central Europe has left almost 200 people dead.<\/p>\n<p>In the face of the blindingly obvious, even recalcitrant presidents and politicians are at last beginning to acknowledge the scale of the peril in which our relentless pursuit of economic growth has placed the planet. In principle, they still have time to do something about it.<\/p>\n<p>As I and many colleagues have argued, the pandemic offers us a unique opportunity to fashion <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eesc.europa.eu\/en\/news-media\/press-releases\/economy-environment-and-peoples-well-being-must-go-hand-hand-post-covid-eu\">a different kind of economy<\/a>. The 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Climate Change Convention (<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ukcop26.org\/\">COP26<\/a>) in Glasgow in November 2021 could well be the place to do that. Whether that happens or not will depend as much on vision as it does on science. And on our courage to confront the inequalities of power that led us to this point.<\/p>\n<p>It will also depend on us going back to the first principles and asking ourselves: how exactly should we aim to live in the only habitable world in the known universe? What is the nature of the good life available to us here? What can prosperity <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cusp.ac.uk\">possibly mean<\/a> for a promiscuous species on a finite planet?<\/p>\n<p>The question is almost as old as the hills. But the contemporary answer to it is paralyzingly narrow. Cast in the garb of late capitalism, prosperity has been captured by the ideology of \u201cgrowth at all costs\u201d: an insistence that more is always better. Despite <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2Jq23mSDh9U\">overwhelming evidence<\/a> that relentless expansion is undermining nature and driving us towards a devastating climate emergency, the \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TMrtLsQbaok\">fairytales of eternal growth<\/a>\u201d still reign supreme.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/412110\/original\/file-20210720-13-1b4b1fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"Group of people sit in forest near bonfire.\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"\/><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fspace%2F2021%2F07%2F21%2Fbillionaire-space-race-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-growth-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Shouldn\u2019t humanity focus on shoring up the good life on Earth before we race off into space? Tegan Mierle\/Unsplash, FAL\" data-title=\"Share Shouldn\u2019t humanity focus on shoring up the good life on Earth before we race off into space? Tegan Mierle\/Unsplash, FAL on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Shouldn\u2019t humanity focus on shoring up the good life on Earth before we race off into space? Tegan Mierle\/Unsplash, FAL on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Shouldn\u2019t humanity focus on shoring up the good life on Earth before we race off into space? Tegan Mierle\/Unsplash, FAL<\/figcaption><\/figure><figcaption\/><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Zero_gravity\"><\/span>Zero gravity<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s an ironic twist in the tale of the debate society kid I used to be that I\u2019ve spent most of my professional life confronting those fairytales of growth. Don\u2019t ask me how that happened. By accident mostly.<\/p>\n<p>I toyed with the idea of studying astrophysics. But I ended up studying Maths at Cambridge, where I confess to being baffled by the complexity of it all until I realized that even math is just a trick. Quite literally a formula. Believe in it and you can <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a> to the stars and back. In your mind, at least.<\/p>\n<p>And there I was wandering around in zero-G, when I woke up one day (in April 1986) to find that the Number four reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine had suffered a catastrophic meltdown. I suddenly realized that the very same skills I\u2019d spent my life developing were leading humanity not towards the stars but away from the paradise we already inhabit.<\/p>\n<p>So yes. I changed my mind. The next day I walked into the Greenpeace office in London and asked what I could do to help. They set me working on the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.elsevier.com\/books\/renewable-energy\/jackson\/978-1-4832-5695-5\">economics of renewable energy<\/a> I became, accidentally, an economist. (Economics needs more accidental economists.) And that\u2019s when it began to dawn on me that learning how to live well on this fragile planet is far more important than dreaming about the next one.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mine_is_bigger_than_yours\"><\/span>Mine is bigger than yours<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Not so the space race billionaires. A handful of unbelievably powerful men, whose wealth has <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/chasewithorn\/2021\/04\/30\/american-billionaires-have-gotten-12-trillion-richer-during-the-pandemic\/\">exploded<\/a> massively throughout the pandemic, are now busy trying to persuade us that the future lies not here on Earth but out there among the stars.<\/p>\n<p>Tesla founder and serial entrepreneur, Elon Musk is one of these new rocket men. \u201cThose who attack space,\u201d he <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1414782972474048516\">tweeted<\/a> recently, \u201cmaybe don\u2019t realize that space represents hope for so many people\u201d. That may be true of course in a world where huge inequalities of wealth and privilege strip hope from the lives of billions of people. But, as the spouse of a Nasa flight controller pointed out, it obscures the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2021\/07\/07\/no-billionaires-wont-escape-to-space-while-the-world-burns\/?fbclid=IwAR3Hzv3TGOuflDjlSatFJQN0_nastGp1MCqP-AOU0PJrUQWtHIMxNcP-BEM\">extraordinary demands<\/a> of escaping from Mother Earth, in terms of energy materials, people and time.<\/p>\n<p>Undeterred, the rocket men gaze starward. If resources are the problem, then space must be the answer. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is pretty explicit about his own expansionary vision. \u201cWe can have a trillion humans in the solar system,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/mach\/science\/jeff-bezos-foresees-trillion-people-living-millions-space-colonies-here-ncna1006036\">he once declared<\/a>. \u201cWhich means we\u2019d have a thousand Mozarts and a thousand Einsteins. This would be an incredible civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bezos and Musk have spent their lockdown contesting the top two places on the Forbes <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/billionaires\/\">rich list<\/a>. They\u2019ve also been playing \u201cmine is bigger than yours\u201d in their own private space race for a couple of decades now. Bezos\u2019s personal wealth <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/inequality.org\/great-divide\/updates-billionaire-pandemic\/\">almost doubled<\/a> during the course of a pandemic that destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions. He\u2019s now stepping down to spend more time on Blue Origin, the company he hopes will deliver vast human colonies across the solar system.<\/p>\n<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spacex.com\/mission\/\">declared aim<\/a> of Musk\u2019s rival company, SpaceX, is \u201cto make humanity multi-planetary\u201d. Just like <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/books\/page-turner\/our-greatest-political-novelist\">Kim Stanley Robinson<\/a>\u2019s science fiction <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/space.nss.org\/book-review-red-mars\/\">trilogy<\/a> back in the 1990s, Musk aims to establish a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/news\/elon-musk-drops-details-for-spacexs-million-person-mars-mega-colony\/\">permanent human colony<\/a> on Mars. To get there, he reasons, we need very big rockets \u2013 or, in the original terminology of SpaceX, Big Fucking Rockets (<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/09\/19\/18-new-details-about-elon-musks-redesigned-moon-bound-big-fing-rocket\/?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJd2kjzq4ZnY7YFIEcz1ZTmBPm7MmuQ_2wfNs9erxRMlo4qDio6p9lDkDY7I00A3KvMN5ZKZkkkxZB_ldqttJgYIGM2a4zE5NLSWLYRZMI11-1xbvn31Q6uJBOOn11q5oVbllHCYDhH3ygdBFbWUXOu2H2tXqDsVhtsvMKEe5s_w\">BFRs<\/a>) \u2013 eventually capable of transporting scores of people and hundreds of tonnes of equipment millions of miles across the solar system.<\/p>\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Interview with sci-fi writer Kim Stanley Robinson\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BniF_Vl2w20?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p>The BFRs have now given way to a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> of (more sedately named) Starships. And to prove his green credentials, Musk desperately wants these <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spacex.com\/vehicles\/starship\/\">starships<\/a> to be reusable. So much so that SpaceX conspired to blow up four consecutive Starship prototypes in quick succession during the first four months of 2021 trying unsuccessfully to re-land them.<\/p>\n<p>Move fast and break things is the Silicon Valley motto of course, but eventually, you\u2019ve got to bring the goods home. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2021\/5\/6\/the-starship-has-landed-spacex-nails-reusable-craft-touchdown\">Starship SN15<\/a> finally achieved that on May 5 \u2013 three weeks after SpaceX had landed a massive <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/04\/16\/science\/spacex-moon-nasa.html\">US$2.9 billion<\/a> contract from NASA, nudging Blue Origin into the space race shadows.<\/p>\n<p>Not wanting to be outdone, Bezos came up with what he must have hoped was the ultimate comeback. When Blue Origin\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blueorigin.com\/new-shepard\/\">New Shepard<\/a> rocket \u2013 which is also reusable \u2013 made its first manned space flight on July 20, he and his brother Mark would be two of the first few passengers on board. Wow, Jeff! Kudos man! Now you really show us your <em>cojones<\/em>! Nobody likes coming second. Least of all the most powerful people on the planet.<\/p>\n<p>But sometimes you get no choice. Out of the blue, without so much as a by-your-leave, Virgin boss, Richard Branson swooped in to steal everyone\u2019s thunder. On July 11, nine days before Bezos\u2019s big day, Branson became the first ever billionaire to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/virgin-galactic-space-tourism-takes-off-with-bransons-inaugural-flight-164142\">launch himself into space<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And for a cool US$250,000, he promised that you too can be one of Virgin Galactic\u2019s 600 or so breathless customers, waiting to enjoy three or four weightless minutes gazing back in rapture at the planet you\u2019ve left behind. Apparently, Musk has <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/7\/12\/22573850\/elon-musk-richard-branson-spaceplane-virgin-galactic\">already signed up<\/a>. Bezos doesn\u2019t need to. He\u2019s made his own <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/news\/live\/blue-origin-jeff-bezos-launch-updates\">virgin space flight<\/a> now.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Prosperity_as_health\"><\/span>Prosperity as health<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The space rhetoric of the super-rich betrays a mentality that may once have served humanity well. Some would say it\u2019s a quintessential feature of capitalism. Innovation upon innovation. A driving ambition to expand and explore. A primal urge to escape our origins and reach for the next horizon. Space travel is a natural extension of our <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2020\/02\/10\/can-we-have-prosperity-without-growth\">obsession with economic growth<\/a>. It\u2019s the crowning jewel of capitalism. Further and faster is its frontier creed.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve spent much of my professional life as a critic of that creed, not just for environmental reasons but on social grounds as well. The seven years I spent as economics commissioner on the UK\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sd-commission.org.uk\/\">Sustainable Development Commission<\/a> and my subsequent research at the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cusp.ac.uk\">Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity<\/a> revealed something fundamental about our aspirations for the good life. Something that has been underlined by the experience of the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Prosperity is as much about health as it is about wealth. Ask people what matters most in their lives and the chances are that this will come out somewhere near the top of the list. Health for themselves. Health for their friends and their families. Health too \u2013 sometimes \u2013 for the fragile planet on which we live and on whose health we ourselves depend.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s something fascinating about this idea. Because it confronts the obsession with growth head on. As Aristotle pointed out in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/classics.mit.edu\/Aristotle\/nicomachaen.html\">Nicomachean Ethics<\/a> (a book named after his physician father), the good life is not a relentless search for more, but a continual process of finding a \u201cvirtuous\u201d balance between too little and too much.<\/p>\n<p>Population health provides an obvious example of this idea. Too little food and we\u2019re struggling with diseases of malnutrition. Too much and we\u2019re tipped into the \u201cdiseases of affluence\u201d that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/obesity-and-overweight\">now kill more people<\/a> than under-nutrition does. Good health depends on us finding and nurturing this balance.<\/p>\n<p>This task is always tricky of course, even at the individual level. Just think about the challenge of keeping your exercise, your diet, and your appetites in line with the outcome of a healthy body weight. But as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timjackson.org.uk\/postgrowth\">I\u2019ve argued<\/a>, living inside a system that has its sights continually focused on more makes the task near impossible. Obesity has tripled since 1975. Almost two-fifths of adults over 18 are overweight. Capitalism not only fails to recognize the point where the balance lies. It has absolutely no idea how to stop when it gets there.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019d think our brush with mortality through the pandemic would have brought some of this home to us. You\u2019d think it would give us pause for thought about what really matters to us: the kind of world we want for our children; the kind of society we want to live in. And for many people it has. In a survey carried out during lockdown in the UK, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thersa.org\/press\/releases\/2019\/brits-see-cleaner-air-stronger-social-bonds-and-changing-food-habits-amid-lockdown\">85% of respondents<\/a> found something in their changed conditions they felt worth keeping and fewer than 10% wanted a complete return to normal.<\/p>\n<p>When life and health are at stake, the ungodly scramble for wealth and status feels less and less attractive. Even the lure of technology pales. Family, conviviality, and a sense of purpose come to the fore. These are the things that many people found they lacked most throughout the pandemic. But their importance in our lives was not a COVID accident: they are the most fundamental elements of\u00a0 sustainable prosperity.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_denial_of_death\"><\/span>The denial of death<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Something even more surprising has <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timjackson.org.uk\/consumerism-theodicy\/\">emerged<\/a> during my three decades of research. Behind consumer capitalism, behind the frontier mentality, beyond the urge to expand forever lies a deep-seated and pervasive anxiety.<\/p>\n<p>What does day two look like, Bezos once <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fTwXS2H_iJo&amp;ab_channel=AmazonNews\">asked a crowd<\/a> of the faithful, referring to his famous maxim about the need to innovate. \u201cDay two is stasis, followed by irrelevance, followed by an excruciatingly painful decline, followed by death,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that. Is why. It is always. Day one!\u201d His audience loved it.<\/p>\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jeff Bezos on Why It&#039;s Always Day 1 at Amazon | Amazon News\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fTwXS2H_iJo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p>Musk plays out his own inner demons just as disarmingly. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to be anyone\u2019s savior,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/elon_musk_the_future_we_re_building_and_boring\/transcript?language=en\">he once told<\/a> TED\u2019s head curator, Chris Anderton. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to think about the future \u2013 and not be sad.\u201d Again, the applause was deafening.<\/p>\n<p>A well-trained therapist could have a field day with all of this. Take that miraculous day a few weeks after the Perseverance rover started sending home the most amazing selfies in the universe when the Ingenuity helicopter made its <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kQMTo0KuN5M\">virgin flight<\/a> in the wafer thin atmosphere of Mars. It was the kind of outcome that could have intelligence agencies drooling over far less benign uses of the technology. But there was also something pretty existential going on.<\/p>\n<p>The faint whispering of the Martian wind relayed faithfully across the solar system, doesn\u2019t just confirm the possibilities for aerial flight on an alien planet. It\u2019s grist to the mill of an essential belief that human beings are endlessly creative and fiendishly clever.<\/p>\n<p>Our visceral response to these momentary triumphs speaks to a branch of psychology called <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/gb\/basics\/terror-management-theory\">terror management theory<\/a> drawn from the work of cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker. It was explored in particular in his astonishing 1973 book <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.co.uk\/books\/edition\/The_Denial_of_Death\/jyqGDwAAQBAJ\">The Denial of Death<\/a>. In it, Becker argues that modern society has lost its way, precisely because we\u2019ve become terrified of confronting the inevitability of our own demise.<\/p>\n<p>Terror management theory tells us that, when mortality becomes \u201csalient\u201d, instead of addressing the underlying fear, we turn for comfort to the things which make us feel good. Capitalism itself is a massive comfort blanket, designed to help us never confront the mortality that awaits us all. So too are the dreams of the rocket men.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Beyond_lockdown\"><\/span>Beyond lockdown<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When Sputnik kickstarted the first \u201cspace race\u201d six decades ago, a US <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>paper headline called it \u201cone step toward [our] escape from imprisonment to the Earth\u201d. Arendt read those words with astonishment. She saw there a deep-seated \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.co.uk\/books\/edition\/The_Human_Condition\/bGlwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=hannah%20arendt%20'rebellion%20against%20human%20existence'&amp;pg=PA2&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;bsq=hannah%20arendt%20'rebellion%20against%20human%20existence'\">rebellion against human existence<\/a>\u201d. It isn\u2019t just the pandemic that locks us down, the implication is. It\u2019s the entire human condition.<\/p>\n<p>The anxiety we feel is nothing new. The choice between confronting our fears and running away from them has always been a profound one. It\u2019s exactly the choice we\u2019re facing now. As vaccine roll-out brings a glimmer of light at the end of COVID-19, the temptation to rush into wild escapism is massive.<\/p>\n<p>But for all its glamour, the \u201cfinal frontier\u201d is at best an amusement and at worst a fatal distraction from the urgent task of rebuilding a society ravaged by social injustice, climate change, and a loss of faith in the future.<\/p>\n<p>With most of us still reeling from what the World Health Organisation has called a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/domestic-abuse-and-mental-ill-health-twin-shadow-pandemics-stalk-the-second-wave-148412\">shadow pandemic<\/a> in mental health, any kind of escape plan at all looks remarkably like paradise. And emigrating to Mars is one hell of an escape plan.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s dream of some \u201cfinal frontier\u201d by all means. But let\u2019s focus our minds too on some quintessentially earthly priorities. Affordable healthcare. Decent homes for the poorest in society. A solid education for our kids. Reversing the decades-long precarity in the livelihoods of the frontline workers \u2013 the ones who saved our lives. Regenerating the devastating loss of the natural world. Replacing frenetic consumerism with an economy of care and relationship and meaning.<\/p>\n<p>Never have these things made so much sense to so many. Never has there been a better time to turn them into a reality. Not just for the handful of billionaires dreaming of unbridled wealth on the red planet, but for the eight billion mere mortals living out their far less brazen dreams on the blue one.<\/p>\n<p><em>Article by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/tim-jackson-802882\">Tim Jackson<\/a>, Professor of Sustainable Development and Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-surrey-1201\">University of Surrey<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/billionaire-space-race-the-ultimate-symbol-of-capitalisms-flawed-obsession-with-growth-164511\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/billionaire-space-race-capitalisms-destructive-obsession-growth-syndication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#The billionaire space race epitomizes capitalism\u2019s destructive obsession with growth&#8221; Mars ain\u2019t the kind of place to raise your kids, laments the Rocket Man in Elton John\u2019s timeless classic. In fact, it\u2019s cold as hell, but that doesn\u2019t seem to worry a new generation of space entrepreneurs intent on colonizing the \u201cfinal frontier\u201d as fast&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":304447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/BlueOrigin_NewShepard_M9_BoosterLanding.jpg&signature=c6626ecda745929d784f0910747ef541","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-304446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}