Without external reality checks, many critics suggested, NASA had become isolated in its own delusional can-do ideology, derived from its Apollo mission successes," says Ann Larabee in her Sep 2013 article on pomoculture.org. Further, she states, "From these days of childhood innocence, the agency had grown increasingly isolated, streamlined and pressurized, indulging in overweening bureaupathological fantasies about its abilities, despite budget cuts...driven by fantasies of invulnerability and a need for unanimity"
hu*bris
/ˈ(h)yo͞obrəs/ noun
excessive pride or self-confidence.
The exceprt above is, again, from the Larabee article, mentioned at the outset. Humans, it seems, are so busy getting in their own way, they can't see the forest for their person.
Hubris syndrome is associated with power, more likely to manifest itself the longer the person exercises power and the greater the power they exercise. A syndrome not to be applied to anyone with existing mental illness or brain damage. Usually symptoms abate when the person no longer exercises power, says the Right Honorable Lord David Owen (SOURCE: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4952940/pdf/428.pdf).
NASA was created in 1958, during the pinnacle of the Cold War in the late 50s/early 60s, and it has been led since it's inception by white, Anglo men. And while they deserve moderate credit for a climate of inclusion, it took a recent film to show the absolute mission-critical role African-American women played in the space race. Who could forget that image of Tom Hank's character beating down that segregated bathroom sign (in the name of productivity, mind you)? But NASA still has a long way to go.
If the 2020 Challenger doc that I finished yesterday and blogged reaction to, along with the Columbia disaster didn't teach us anything, it's that these white, Anglo men were arrogant, nearly untouchable, gods of the space age. Their hubris was on full display in the documentary. Mulloy and Lucas' arrogance and defiance reminded me of the Klan leaders in the film "Mississippi Burning." But those two a-holes were just products of their environment.
President Reagan told his investigatory commission to find a scapegoat, essentially, and save for a few brave men like Feynman and Kutyna, on that commission, Roger's WOULD HAVE!
As I blogged a few days ago, I grew up on Reaganomics and Fundamental Christianity. Ronald Reagan was almost revered as The Christ. I was spoon-fed the propaganda from Hollywood about "the American Dream" growing up. I watched "Father Knows Best" and "Leave It To Beaver." I was firmly entrenched in the Patriarchy and Aristocracy of our Founding "Fathers." Just that last term alone should make you stop and think--Founding Fathers, God the Father, Father Time...
So at the height of the Cold War, as Baby Boomers were brainwashed to grab for the brass ring (or picket fence, as it may be), sell their souls to corporations and worship the Golden Calf, as it were, we were all thrust into this race to space, like it or not. My very first paycheck from Little Ceasar's had FICA, Soc. Sec. and Federal Income Tax deducted from it, and part of the latter was to fund programs like NASA. I was a believer. I gave my tithe.
As I blogged a few days ago, I grew up on Reaganomics and Fundamental Christianity. Ronald Reagan was almost revered as The Christ. I was spoon-fed the propaganda from Hollywood about "the American Dream" growing up. I watched "Father Knows Best" and "Leave It To Beaver." I was firmly entrenched in the Patriarchy and Aristocracy of our Founding "Fathers." Just that last term alone should make you stop and think--Founding Fathers, God the Father, Father Time...
So at the height of the Cold War, as Baby Boomers were brainwashed to grab for the brass ring (or picket fence, as it may be), sell their souls to corporations and worship the Golden Calf, as it were, we were all thrust into this race to space, like it or not. My very first paycheck from Little Ceasar's had FICA, Soc. Sec. and Federal Income Tax deducted from it, and part of the latter was to fund programs like NASA. I was a believer. I gave my tithe.
That myth of the American Dream that began to crumble in the cultural revolution of the 60's and it's decades-long propaganda campaign convinced most of us that NASA were our 21st century "Superfriends." Defying the calls for transparency, because it's easy to claim "top secrecy" when you're an agency of war, the patriarchy kept marching forward and spending money like water...YOUR MONEY AND MINE!! (So in a roundabout way, we have the blood of those 17 astronauts on OUR hands!)
Now did we benefit from some of the advances of science achieved through NASA programs? Most certainly...but at what cost? I know we lost 17 astronauts along the way, beginning in the Apollo program. But did we sell our souls?
The myth, rooted in ideals like Manifest Destiny, continues to be propped up by the Patriarchy. Let's look at some of it's benefits:
- The KKK and it's neo-fascist successors- Imbalance of power- Inequality- Systemic racism- The ONE PERCENTERS- Decimation of the middle class- The mafia- Deeply divided nation- Distrust of institutions- Genocide (Native peoples and minorities)- Drug epidemic- Oppression/Crime- A police state
...but those are just the highlights.
If you want to know more, stay tuned.
I think these policies, and the Patriarchy, that put them in place, these ideologies that they continue to prop up as "a dream," are leading us down a very dark path...but I'll blog more about that in the coming days.
I think these policies, and the Patriarchy, that put them in place, these ideologies that they continue to prop up as "a dream," are leading us down a very dark path...but I'll blog more about that in the coming days.
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