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Week of action against space travel.

Sat, 01/05/2013 - 13:39 -- Anonymous (not verified)

From Low Tech

Space travel is the launch of satellites, space stations, space probes, space shuttles, large rockets and other things into outer space. The money that the United States government is currently spending on space travel should be spent on helping the poor. The United States spends more money on space travel than any other country in the world. In 2010 the United States government spent $64 billion on space travel. Tell Congress to decrease funding for space travel, space exploration, NASA, military space programs and private space programs and increase funding for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health care, disability benefits, retirement programs, unemployment benefits, welfare, aid to the poor, food stamps, food pantries, charities, homeless shelters and affordable housing. Call, email, contact your senators and representatives in Congress between May 19-25. Organize or attend a protest, march or rally against space travel between May 19-25. Donate your money to charities, food pantries, homeless shelters and other organizations that help the poor between May 19-25. Go to the website http://weeknospace.blogspot.com/ to learn more about the week of action against space travel.

May 19-25, 2013

This week of action was organized by Low Tech.
Low Tech's website is:
http://lowtech2.blogspot.com/

In the United States the number of homeless people is growing.
http://news.yahoo.com/hunger-homelessness-rise-u-cities-report-182712758...

In the United States the number of people living in poverty is growing.
http://news.yahoo.com/us-poverty-track-rise-highest-since-1960s-11294654...

Around the world the number of homeless people is growing.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/apr/10/20050410-105739-5991r/?p...

Around the world the number of people living in poverty is growing.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aMi0zYhypiTs

Around the world the number of unemployed people is growing.
http://wsws.org/en/articles/2012/05/pers-m01.html

Around the world the number of starving people is growing.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/87006/In-Brief-World-hunger-increases-des...

In 2012 the World Health Organization predicted that the number of starving people will continue to rise in the future.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2012/06/climate-...

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health care, disability benefits, retirement programs, unemployment benefits, welfare, aid to the poor, food stamps, food pantries, charities, homeless shelters and affordable housing are social programs.

The amount of money that the United States government is spending on social programs is decreasing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/austerity-wall-street_n_1690838...

The amount of money that governments around the world are spending on social programs is decreasing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/austerity-wall-street_n_1690838...

The United States government plans to decrease spending on social programs in the future.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/11/fiscal-cliff-talks-medicare-soc...

Governments around the world plan to decrease spending on social programs in the future.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/07/us-britain-politics-idUSBRE896...
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2012-11/23/content_15952134.htm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/23/us-germany-budget-cuts-idUSBRE...
http://www.houseofjapan.com/local/japan-to-slash-welfare-budget-from-fy-...

The United States spends more money on space travel than any other country in the world.
http://www.thespacereport.org/files/The_Space_Report_2011_exec_summary.pdf

In 2010 the United States government spent $64 billion on space travel.
http://www.thespacereport.org/files/The_Space_Report_2011_exec_summary.pdf

In 2010 governments, companies and other organizations around the world spent $276 billion on space travel.
http://www.thespacereport.org/files/The_Space_Report_2011_exec_summary.pdf

The amount of money that governments, companies and other organizations around the world are spending on space travel is increasing.
http://www.thespacereport.org/files/The_Space_Report_2011_exec_summary.pdf

Governments, companies and other organizations around the world plan to increase spending on space travel in the future.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/22/business/la-fi-0722-space-race-2...

In 2011 Americans spent $144 billion buying new technology like electronics.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57377104-93/consumer-electronics-spendi...$144b-in-2011/

American consumers spend more money on new technology than any other country in the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/09/04/business/20080907-metrics-...

In 2012 people around the world spent $2.1 trillion buying, using and maintaining new technology.
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=2094015

The money that people spend on new technology should be spent on helping the poor. Instead of using their money to buy new technology people should donate their money to charities, food pantries, homeless shelters and other organizations that help the poor.

Tell everyone you know about this week of action. Pass out flyers for it. Email people about it. Tell people on Facebook, Myspace, Yahoo and other websites about it.

Go here to download a flyer for the week of action against space travel:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/118353472/flyer-no-space

Go here to find out how to contact your senators and representatives in Congress:
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

Go here to see a list of some events related to this week of action:
http://weeknospace.blogspot.com/p/some-events-related-to-week-of-action....

The Facebook page for this week of action is:
http://www.facebook.com/events/583072725042929/

To join the email list for this week of action send a message to:
lowtech1980@gmail.com

To contact Low Tech send an email to lowtech1980@gmail.com

Category: 

Comments

Submitted by I'm against sto... (not verified) on

the money you spend on your computer, websites, etc should be spent . . . on helping the poor!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

What does this have to do with anarchists, anarchy, or anarchism?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

Haha this is funny because I'm against space exploration but not because of some b.s. money concerns. Rather, the commercialization of space extractive industries may be a necessary component of the maintenance of industrial civilization when terrestrial metal and other resources are depleted.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

I think space exploration would be cool, but I'm on your page...after civ collapses though I might look into secretly building a rocket or two.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

is this adbusters or something? i'm seriously having trouble wrapping my head around how dumb this is. does your opposition to technology include opposition to math? because $64 billion is less than 1% of the annual military budget. i also don't understand how you think protesting or 'acting against' the space program is going to affect the overall consumer electronics industry, or what connection you even see between them. next time you want to pester strangers to do stuff, why don't you spend more time thinking and less collecting a bunch of random links - including one about contacting your congressman! jesus christ.

Submitted by Soviet Onion (not verified) on

Because obviously it's not about a rational estimate of the cost, it's about general anti-tech sentiment using that as a cover while attacking a specific kind of tech that is popularly viewed as useless and pie in the sky, and thus an easy target.

It's like making fun of the Mormons. Religion is stupid, but some religions make easier targets when popular opinion is on your side and will chime in when you go on about how weird they are.

Submitted by Me Me Me (not verified) on

In other words, it is one stoopid protest.

AGAINST ALL THE THINGS!

Submitted by Low Tech on

I did some thinking:

Space travel is bad and space travel severely limits people's freedom because being stuck inside a space ship all the time is not freedom. Future generations should not be trapped inside spacecraft. Future generations should not be condemned to the darkness of outer space. Future generations should be able to move around freely on Earth and should be able to enjoy sunny, blue skies on Earth.

The human species does not need to leave Earth and colonize, travel in or live in outer space in order to survive. Climate change, global warming, severe weather, deforestation and pollution are not bad enough yet to make us go extinct. Most humans can survive on Earth now. We have been on Earth for thousands of years. The apes and monkeys that we evolved from lived on Earth for millions of years. If we protect the environment and don't use up too much natural resources future generations can live on Earth for millions of years.

Giving people the option of leaving Earth causes people to believe that the Earth is not important and causes people to believe that all the humans, animals, plants and other life forms on Earth are not important.

The astronauts travel from Earth to outer space is the astronauts total separation from humanity and the Earth.

Another reason that space travel should stop and the production of spacecraft should stop is that space travel gives dictators, government officials, rich people, politicians and other people a way to leave Earth to avoid being held accountable for oppression, pollution, crime, war and violence they caused on Earth.

The mass evacuation of humans from Earth would be a very risky action. It is unlikely that most people could ever be evacuated from Earth on spacecraft. Spacecraft and space travel are dangerous. Some astronauts have died in space travel accidents like the Challenger disaster. Dangerous things exist in outer space like radiation, asteroids, comets, exploding stars, black holes and aliens. Future generations who travel in outer space may encounter these dangerous things.

The launch of satellites and other spacecraft into Earth orbit should stop. There is no need to put satellites in orbit around the Earth. The launch of satellites into Earth orbit for the purpose of communication is not necessary because we have other ways of communicating with people in faraway places like radios, televisions, phones, telegraphs, mail, radio towers, fiber optics, phone lines, power lines, underwater cables and the internet. People in faraway places, like thousands of miles away, instantly and easily communicated with each other before the launch of the first satellite in 1957. The launch of satellites into Earth orbit for the purpose of weather forecasting is not necessary because we have other ways of weather forecasting and gathering information about the weather like airplanes, weather balloons, boats, ocean buoys and weather stations on the ground. People could accurately forecast the weather and quickly gather information about the weather in all parts of the world before the launch of the first satellite in 1957. The launch of satellites, large rockets, space planes, space shuttles and other spacecraft for the purpose of traveling is not necessary because people can use airplanes, boats, trains, buses, cars, trucks and bicycles for traveling.

Space travel should stop because building spacecraft, large rockets, launch sites and other things for space travel uses up a huge amount of money, time, energy, minerals, metal, oil, gas and other resources that could be used for other things like helping the poor.

Humans should not colonize planets, moons, asteroids or other places in outer space because other life forms might already live there.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

haha, i get it.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

no, it doesn't.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

Well you can go shiver in a cave with your hocus pocus and snake oil tinctures while the rest of us actually try and gain a better understanding of the world around us and solve some of the myriad of problems that face humanity. There's a choice in life one either grows of one decays. Grow or die. I say we should grow.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

Spread the cancer of the total nothing!
ALL BLACK EVERYTHING!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

I dunno sometimes I think it would be best if humanity went extinct, but then I'm think about exploring the cosmos, but then I'm like is it worth the further destruction of earth and them I'm like I'd be down for ending civ if we could still farm shit so countless people who don't have the resources could survive, but then I'm like they probably wouldn't be down with birth control so the human population would still be a problem. Then I think it would be better if we went extinct causing as little suffering as possible...then I just want to build barricades for some reason.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

ANARCHY!!!

Submitted by daedlanth-anon (not verified) on

I'm totally, like, you know, like......I get it.....like we'll be, like omnipotent in the skies....like, whatever!

Submitted by Soviet Onion (not verified) on

This rant is lame on so many counts. Not just because the space program uses less than 1% of the military's budget. Not because cutting ANY OTHER AREA of that budget would free up even more cash. Not because begging congressmen is a waste of time. Not because things learned through space exploration can obviously effect the way things are done on Earth. Not because this article relies on shoving links in your face without caring if they contradict each other or even make relevant sense ("So the US spends more money on X than any other country? Think that might be because the US has the single largest economy? What's the fucking percentage?!).

But because this technophobia undercuts its own implied motivations. Isn't it rather strange that people who would condemn unsustainable industrialists as being shortsighted for not caring what life will be like for people 100 years from now can so easily not care what life will be like 5 billion years from now when our sun grows into a red dwarf, boils the oceans and blasts the fucking atmosphere away? If any people, let alone other biomasses, wish to survive that's pretty much going to require practical means of space travel.

So much for long term sustainability, huh greenies?

Submitted by J Peebles (not verified) on

BOOM!!! THREE POINTS!! get that spaceship fired up m8, i dont wanna be left hanging here with the primmies when the sun explodes LOL but seriosly we should be doing more about that because when you actually think about it theres not that much time left. keep on rockin in the new galaxy hahaha

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

"can so easily not care what life will be like 5 billion years from now when our sun grows into a red dwarf, boils the oceans and blasts the fucking atmosphere away? If any people, let alone other biomasses, wish to survive that's pretty much going to require practical means of space travel."

First off, I find it ironic that it is you who is posturing as the sane one and no, I don't give a fuck about what life will be like in 5 billion years. The effects of "unsustainable industrialists" is not only having a devastating impact on the future a 100 years from now, but it is having one right now at this very moment, and that is the time I live in.

So yeah, if you think I'm gonna fight the state, only to spend the last "glorious" days of my life mining the resources, which are needed to insure that the sperm of some techno-zombie 5 billion years later can get off this rock, then I say to you kind sir, go fuck yourself.

Also, what kind of creepy utopia/dystopia do you have in mind for space travel to even be a practical option? Is there just some massive GA governing the world, or robots programmed to be anti-authoritarian, yet programmed to get shit done? Just curious.

Oh..oh..oh... one more thing, what color are the astronauts you envision? You know, what race of people naturally comes to your mind, when you think about colonizing space in order to save the human race?

Submitted by gel-oberon 3 on

By the time the sun burns out we could turn the earth into a space ship and steer it to another star.

Submitted by Low Tech on

This argument that 5 billion years from now the Sun will grow and make life on Earth impossible could be some bullshit theory created by NASA or some scientists to justify space travel.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

AWW SPACE SNAP

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

This reminds me of a "Ship of Fools". Split hairs over where taxes are spent... I'm pretty confident that most anarchists believe taxes are extortion fees from the start. No point in griping over the most appropriate spending of those fees. Because all of them are inappropriate. SMH @ reformers.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

they*

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

*they

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

Note the writing style that assumes we're all retarded and clueless. I can see it now: Couple of activist-types discussing over coffee ...

"Lets write a callout that attempts to convince jane/joe-every-tard on the street. We want her/him to stop on the way to work (where presumably they pay her/him to be retarded) and really think, for the first time ever, about our little obscure pet issue."

Then what? TELL CONGRESS! THAT'S WHAT!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

As long as we can still farm plants. Do what ever. But imma consciously agriculture dis earth to feed people till I die. And if some tells me I can't I'll say "fuck off racist primitive bastards" and kill dem with intricate wooden machines.

Submitted by daedlanth-anon (not verified) on

Take a good, long look at the comment that I posted on your last post. I would work with you but space is not my case at the present time. You sir, have a lot of altered reality and your own mind to deal with.

Submitted by keepinitreal (not verified) on

I love how all these neo-luddites have website and facebook pages... Just funny on a base level.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

totally funny. just like all these anarchists who have bosses, pay taxes, go to grocery stores, etc...

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

Suggestions for the week of action against space travel:
Go to Mars, throw a rock through the window of the Mars rover.
Hang a really big banner off a satellite.
Throw newspaper boxes into space.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

How to smash the Mars Rover properly:

1- Go to somewhere in Argentina or northern Canadam where it really is.

2- Get filmed as black bloc by it.

3- Smash smashy smash (or "???")

4- Anarchy ensues (Profit!)

All thanks to NASA chills, there's not even a need for a spaceship to attack their assets... although yeah it'd be way cooler with the Millennium Falcon!

Submitted by iwanttobelieve (not verified) on

Did anyone read the insane 10,000+ word rant on their site http://lowtech2.blogspot.com/ ?

The ways to "stop all this", yeah it's like a couple liberals skipping class and getting coffee making a list.

"Tell people that space travel should stop.

Support laws that make the creation, invention, production, distribution, promotion, advertisement, sale, possession and use of new technology illegal.

Support laws that make space travel illegal.

Support government policies that reduce funding for new technology, scientific research and space travel.

Vote for people who support Low Tech or Low Tech's goals.

Organize, plan, promote or attend marches, rallies, protests, demonstrations, strikes and boycotts against the creation, invention, production, distribution and use of new technology and against space travel.

Don't invest in companies that create, invent, produce, distribute, sell or use new technology.

Don't do business with companies that create, invent, produce, distribute, sell or use new technology.

Don't invest in companies that are involved in space travel.

Don't do business with companies that are involved in space travel.

Donate your money to charities, food pantries, homeless shelters and other organizations that help the poor instead of spending your money on new technology.

Reduce the amount of time that you spend traveling.

Stop traveling out of town. Stop traveling more than 20 miles from your home.

If you want to take a vacation then go somewhere that is less than 20 miles from your home.

Don't travel to other countries.

Eat healthy, organic food. Don't eat food that is produced in factory farms. Don't eat genetically modified food. Don't eat food that contains toxic chemicals like aspartame and monosodium glutamate.

Plant new trees. Don't cut down trees.

Use less oil, gas, electricity, heat, wood, paper and other resources.

Buy less stuff. Only buy something if you need it to survive.

Regifting is the act of taking a gift that has been received and giving it to somebody else, sometimes in the guise of a new gift. Do regifting instead of buying a present for someone on their birthday or for holidays.

Buy used stuff instead of buying new stuff. Shop at thrift stores and other places that sell used stuff.

Don't buy a big car, van or truck. Buy a small car.

If you buy a car then buy a car that runs on a small amount of gas or buy an electric car.

Don't buy a big house. Buy a small house."

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

maybe it's DGR?

Submitted by Low Tech on

It's no insane rant. I read the Low Tech blog and more than half of it sounds logical to me. Some of the ideas in there are anarchist even though anarchism itself isn't mentioned.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

WTF does this have anything to do with anarchist struggle?

Did some provocateur took over Worker's job to flood the site with continuous unrelated crap like this? That'd be the downfall of Anews... or perhaps that happened in 2011?

Submitted by Anono (not verified) on

I'll just be kicking it over in here with kim stanley robinson and terrence mckenna. i'm going to put space travel up there with the libraries and food stamps as some of the only cool shit the government does.

Submitted by Davidc (not verified) on

"The money that the United States government is currently spending on space travel should be spent on helping the poor."

You call yourself anarchists? Substituting one government program for another? How is that anarchism? The money should never leave the pockets of the folks who earned it.

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