That it’s a case of “beating” them in the “race” is pretty depressing. This is undeniably a great step forward, but I can’t help but feel that it’s a shame that our economic system fundamentally requires such an overblown degree of competition. Humans are naturally wanting to explore their abilities and see how they stack up, sure, but that it’s such a pillar of our notion of economic activity is very strange. Just because we compete doesn’t mean we cannot (or should not) collaborate. If the goal is to achieve cost effective access to space, we would surely be better off regarding SpaceX (or at least it’s ambitions) as an idea; a goal, rather than a company.

I believe Neil Armstrong made some comments [in which he seemed to express a distaste for commercial space flight] which in traditional fashion were blown out of proportion by the media. His concern was basically centered around safety as far as I understood it. I think we can all agree with that. Given this successful test, Musk must surely feel sheepish, right?

But isn’t that… really silly? Musk is a guy who wields resources who has chosen to use them through SpaceX in the pursuit of humanity achieving accessible space flight. It’s a noble goal and I’m sure most of us hope beyond hope that they are able to pull it off. So the notion that individuals with the capacity to do so are directly competing with this effort to do so is lunacy to me. Best case scenario for Blue Origin from a (traditional) business standpoint is the dismal failure of their competition. As is true of every single unique economic activity we engage in. All those resources. All that talent. Wasted in the name of senseless high-stakes competition where the pot is ironclad control our wondrous technology, and the chips are quite literally the hopes and dreams of millions of people.

If someone is interested in working to imbue their species with the ability to travel to space, there aught to be a position for them regardless of their ability or economic status. Their willingness to give their time and attention to a cause is all the ability they should need. We are all of us unique, mentally and physically. We are all capable of contributing in our own way, and to prevent the contribution of any person under the guise of efficiency is nuts. It literally robs human beings of a fundamental need, which is that sense of community and social cohesion that is increasingly lacking in our modern world.

“The daily grind” was literally the act of grinding wheat for the day’s bread. That the advent of the windmill did not liberate, but beholden the population is utterly shameful. No one man conceived of nor built the windmill. Every single one stood on the shoulders of those who came before them, and rubbed shoulders with those whose labour and innovation would support his kin. And yet somehow, someone who had never set foot on the site of the mill, had never milled the grain, nor baked bread was entitled to collect the rent of the mill, and a portion of grain. I simply fail to see what this individual brought to the table. It certainly wasn’t grain. It wasn’t the mill, others built it. Others collected the materials. Others, some hundreds of years prior invented many of it’s components. But somehow the act of lording over the project is viewed not only as a compensated activity, but surely, the best paid activity?!

“The mine owners do not find the gold, they do not mine the gold, they do not mill the gold, but by some weird alchemy all the gold belongs to them.”

I am deeply disappointed that we still find ourselves constrained by these archaic and burdensome ideals.

We’d certainly waste a lot less resources, time, and lives if we could simply call a spade a spade and move on to the next problem. Humanity can now VTOL a rocket. Awesome. That knowledge should be disseminated far and wide. As should every other technological advancement and innovation. Exploring space is quite interesting enough that we don’t need the carrot of consumerism to drive it’s continued pursuit. Just clear avenues for those who wish to pursue them. And I suspect the same could be said of a great many of humanity’s true (genuine) interests (and their coupled economic activities).

We’ve got it all backwards. Our technology was supposed to remove the daily grind. That was the point. So we could all be free to work on our own personal SpaceX (or ChefX, or CarpenterX, or OceanX) at our leisure… It’s not a competition. It’s progress. It needn’t be a battle.