We could have a man on Mars by 2010, but we will not have a man on Mars by 2010. Why? Because no one cares.

Yes, there are hundreds, even thousands, of people who want that man on Mars. Unfortunitly, they are fanboys. We want that man on Mars. We want to go back to the Moon. We want that international space station built (and named Babylon).

The tragic thing is, we are the only ones who want these things. The vast majority of the world does not care and is not even aware! We could have that man on Mars, but we won't. The authority figures aren't even remotely aware of it, or they view it as not necessary.

They tell you that there are problems right here and now. They say that there is crime and hunger. They say they want to take care of it. It is more important than the future. The future can wait.

The future can't and won't wait. The future is right now.

How do these politicians and officials solve a problem? They throw money at it. It goes away. Five years later, it comes back, bigger and mean than before. They shovel more cash at it. It, again, goes away. Five years later, it bites them on the ass, again. They throw more money at it. Five years later, it comes back.

Do you see my point? We aren't solving anything. There is no evolution. It is a cycle. We're not getting anywhere.

But, they don't understand or care, just as long as their time in office is good for them. They care not of the future. They care not of 20 or 200 years down the line. They only see here, in the moment. They do not see the future, the preservation and evolution of the human race.

You tell them that we need to return to the moon and set up a lunar colony. They laugh. After their laughing ceases, they tell you that it won't solve any of our problems. They only look directly. Directly it will not solve our problems. Indirectly, it will solve all our problems.

Still, you ask, why bother? I'll tell you why. I'll tell the world why we should bother.

One day, 1,000,000 years in the future, Sol will grow cold. On that day, all that we ever were and ever will become will die. Every advancement and achievement will be for nought. We will be nothing. It will be the end of history.

Who will be there to tell our tale? Who will be there to remember us? No one. There will be only silence. The human race has died, but who is there to even know that?

Who is there to even know that we even existed?

All that we really want is to be remembered.

If we leave Earth. If we become a space faring people, we can escape death. We can populate the Universe, with points of light. No single star can destroy us. We would be spread across the stars, in colonies and worlds, and perhaps, become something better.

There is an ancient proverb of not keeping all your eggs in one basket. Earth is our basket.

Either we leave the cradle, or we don't exist. It's at simple.

If we're not going to bother reaching for the stars, why bother with civilization. If we're damned and all is meaningless, I call for us to give up right now. I call for anarchy in the streets.

You see, we are at the most important decision of our race's existence.

Our race is poised at the Great Decision. Our generation will decide whether we live among the heavens or die in the mud. Light or Shadow, it's our choice.

Sadly, most don't even care. They are too involved with petty physical pleasures. It is up the the Outcast to lead to Salvation.

It is always like that. The few have to save the many. The enlightened dragging the stupid. We will carry our race to the stars.

Given our planet's lack of caring about self preservation, it will not be easy. Most likely, it will fail. We will have the will, but those in power will shoot us down.

Realistically, I do not see us off of Earth by 2100. By then, pollution and overpopulation will have taken their toll. Resources will be gone. The ignorant masses will finally begin to realize the grave situation we are in. They will launch a feeble attempt to colonize other worlds, but they won't succeed. They won't even get off Earth. They won't know how. Their attempts will most likely be those first proposed by the Enlightened 100 years ago.

They will blame us for their troubles. There will perhaps be a war, in which the Outcast leave the planet, and the Ignorant are condemned to Hell.

Sadly, the Truth is that the Enlightened Etones will die with the foolish Lambs. As we choke in the Darkness, the Rangers among us -- those Outcast -- will have just enough breath left to say "I told you so", and with that last moment of spite, the human race will die... never being remembered.

You are going to treat this as a work of fiction, or a rant, but it is our future, unless something is done now. In 100 years, if we have not colonized Mars, we will die. On that day, this fiction will become fact.

I will see it all.

We are the Universe.


I hope the Japanese succeed.

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P. Tatara
2.2.1999