A Greater World Is Possible

This book represents the author's reflection about the state of civilization, some possible futures and the deep moral implications of the great choices that civilization has to make. Very often such choices are driven by the more or less informal evolution of social and international relationships, rather than by a reasoned and motivated rationale. There is a big difference between United States and Europe in the perception of outer space, as an area of possible expansion. However, even where this discussion becomes far more advanced, it is hard to overcome the old paradigm of space exploration for its own sake, which has characterised the strategy of the world's largest and most advanced space agency, NASA. So much so that even NASA has often found itself needing to reinvent communication strategies, aimed at not losing the public funding necessary for its survival. Personally, before properly understanding the mechanisms that determined this state of affairs for so long, I was always shocked and speechless when facing these manifestations of what I thought to be a cultural inconsistency. Why not state clearly that, should we not expand into space within this century, our civilisation would be prematurely terminated? Why not acknowledge that the expansion beyond the limits of our mother planet is an absolute and vital necessity for a civilization that will soon exceed eight billion individuals? The multiple reasons for such a failure, for not accepting the agencies' main mission are political, economic and military. They are philosophical as well, deeply rooted in what I call the pre-Copernican paradigm of the "closed world." These justifications have become clearer to me, thanks to a patient work of research and informative discussion with other space enthusiasts, and thanks to that great resource developed over the last twenty years: the global network. However, the main aim of this work is not to denounce those responsible for a very regrettable delay of half a century, but rather to put together, in a coherent and integrated way, the deeply moral reasons of a finally mature expansionist strategy.