Economics - The Flow of Wealth and Goods
Art - The Flow of Membership
Theology - The Flow of Values
Science - The Flow of Truth
Politics - The Flow of Power
When Power resides with the Individual, Power is the Power to Choose. When Power resides with the state, Power is the Power to Control. This balance has been argued for the entirety of human civilization and we find ourselves at yet another coherence point.
The scientist in me was awakened by the Apollo Space Program. I surrounded myself with toys, shows, magazines, pajamas, models, posters, and everything NASA. I worked through several boxes of crayons and pencils designing spacecraft, machines, computers, and space stations.
When we lost Challenger in 1986, the Politicians followed through with a promise to replace her with Endeavour at a price tag of $2 Billion -- we would find the money somewhere because it was important.
After finishing my Ph.D. in 1992, soon after the Gulf War, Politics Changed. We no longer had the money for big science projects. I turned down a job to help build the International Space Station while Congress went back and forth on whether to kill the project. I instead helped to design the F-22 and technologies for the F-35. The U.S. stopped production on the F-22 in 2006 and today the F-35 in its three variants is near termination. In July 2011, Shuttle Atlantis returned from the final shuttle flight.
Today, the U.S. government spends over $1 Billion per day in interest on the U.S. Debt -- enough to build three space shuttles per week. While Politicians clamor for additional education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, they continue to shut down Research and Development in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics because society has so many ills to support. Perhaps the ills of society are due to our lack of exploration and high paying, solid employment in the R&D sector.
If you are a Scientist, Technologist, Engineer, or Mathematician, the next time a Political post floats past your stream that says the Days of Innovation are behind us, say something. Or at least rally behind those of us that do.
