RE: Why your kids won't land on the Moon
"Global citizenry" will probably start helping out with this one right after every one of them has enough to eat, reasonable shelter, and security of person on a pretty regular basis . . . oh, wait, they'll probably want to wait until they have actual disposable income, too.
It's ridiculous really . . . I have always loved the thrill and romance of space exploration, but there's no way it should be any kind of priority for humanity, or for any individual nation, at this point in history.
It worked nicely in the cold war era as an ideological tool with which the West (with U.S. as spokeseperson and proxy) 'proved' the superior ability of capitalism / individualism to push progress and innovation. Ironically, they did that by creating a gigantic government bureaucracy that they no longer wish to fund . . . and the presumption that actual capitalist enterprises can take over the whole of the task remains unproven.
But today, nobody's even interested in more demonstrations of U.S. supremacy . . . they've seen where the last few demonstrations (in Iraq, Afghanistan, and on Wall Street) have actually gotten them.
