Taking the madness to space
Last week China conducted a missile test where it used a MRBM (medium range ballistic missile) to destroy an old satellite. Of course, this got the West’s military machine all excited as it saw a new battlefield to play in.
Not a new concept, the US has already conducted similar tests in the 80’s, under the leadership of Ronald Reagan, in a program called Star Wars.
Back in the 80’s, when I was just a kid, that name and the concept behind it was exciting to me - after all, that was the era of Star Wars, the best sci-fi movie ever!
Now, as a grown up, I realize the madness the world is about to witness. Let’s not play about - the Western economies rely heavily on the arms trade with governments investing billions (that you or I will never know about) in new technology.
As can be expected, there are various lobby groups pushing the American government to respond by upping their budget in space-based military weapons research. I guess it’s not enough that billions are wasted in terrestrial wars (never mind the lives lost) when they could be used more effectively in health and education the world over.
Thankfully, there are level-headed people calling for dialog with China to diffuse the ‘threat’ rather than return to the concept of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction).
