Slate: screw "the kids" future, run those printing presses at warp speed

Well, I'm glad that jingoistic phony concern is finally out of the way.

...There is a good, simple reason for taking a more selfish view of the cost our present debt imposes on future Americans: All else being equal, those future Americans will be leading better, easier, richer lives...

...The main reason that the future should be better off is staring at you from the light-emitting diodes in the back of your screen: improvements in technology...

The fundamental problem here of course is one of timing. I do believe we are on the brink of the next technological revolution. Indeed, anyone who follows science news to any degree has seen brief glimpses of what is to come, and how radically different it will be as we relentlessly push out the boundaries of "the possible" beyond what was considered science fiction only 10 or 15 years ago. Bio/Nano/Materials/etc its going to be like the Cambrian Explosion. Much of what was considered "settled science" 20 or 30 years ago it going to get turned on its head and invalidated as we discover how this physical universe really works. Its incredibly exciting shit, and I'm proud to be a small part of it.

HOWEVER, this new StarGate/StarTrek type technology isn't going to happen full force in 10 or even 15 or 20 years. As a long term salvation, yes, it will be there. The problem with this mounting debt isn't a 25 year one though, its more of a 5/10/15 year one before there are dire consequences.

What will fill that gap before we get Civilization v2.0 online and producing?

posted by Purp at 12:37 PM

| Access Comments