Seeking Out a New World – English Essay
Have you ever looked into the skies at night and just wondered what was out there? If there were other races, just trying to live as best they could, or others, trying to claim every planet available before someone ever could get a chance. Have you ever just wanted to leave this planet, in hopes to find something better? All my life I’ve been interested with space and alien races,
the stars and their planets. I’ve always wanted to fly around in space, experience zero gravity. To me, it gives me a sense of freedom, free from Earth. Free from everything.
I’m sure by now, you’re wondering what I’m talking about. All I’m saying is that, some day, we will be able to do these kinds of things.
Sometimes, I will start thinking about the future, and I see it as a type of Star Trek, just not to that extent. Someday, not any time soon, but someday we will get bored with our own system and will want to explore farther then we’ve ever done. NASA will build an interplanetary ship, instruct a crew, and launch them up in to the deep reaches of space, in hopes that we will find something useful.
Now, I’m sure, by then, if we don’t change our ways soon, our beloved Earth will be lying on its death bed, just waiting, if it hasn’t died already. So I’m sure, NASA will be looking for another planet we will be able to live on. For most people, this will be a good thing, but the way I see it, I’m sure there will be some environmentalist protest groups trying to ban the whole thing: “We told you the planet needed to be saved, did you listen, no. Now you’re just going to find another so you can trash it!” And then there are the religious groups: “Heathens, The Lord is never going to agree with this!” But, who knows, they might not have enough political power to really stop anything, so they might just take things into their own hands, like the protest groups did with the abortion clinic bombings. And of course there is the hippie group that doesn’t want other civilizations to be interfered with.
And of course once this group is brought into the world, it will cause a political battle about “what a civilization consists of.” Could it be a planet full land animals, or must they have a spoken language, some form of intelligence. And who are we to decide, “They’ll never be smart.”
But once the debating and arguing are over, one of two decisions will be made: One, it loses all together, and we can invade any planet we want, regardless of who was there first, with the mind set: We need it, now! Or two, “Finders, Keepers,” if we find an occupied planet, we’ll just find a different one.
Now, if we do find a planet, and it’s supporting life so we give our self’s permission to land there. Are we going to live with them, side by side? I doubt it. I’m reminded of the time Europe found America and completely dominated the new land, ridding it of most of the natives while converting the few they kept. Now, if what they say about history repeating it self is true. Then I sure we’ll kill off the weakly race of aliens, until we realize what we’ve done, put them on the endangered species list, and let them live on reservations with just enough room to build a casino on it.
That’s one thing humans are good at; messing thing up and fixing them at the last minute so it looks like they care.
Then of course, there is the case that we might piss someone off. What if we take some planet that looks empty, but turns out to be someone’s summer resort; like when the birds migrate south to warmer climates. And, of course, the owners of the planet come back to see we have just made ourselves at home, thinking it’s in empty planet. Naturally, this will upset them just a bit, so they’ll just start shooting with out asking questions. The media gets a hold of this and twists it around, so it looks like they just came out of the red sky (or whatever color the new planets sky is) and just shot us up for the hell of it. Well, the people of Earth will eat this up, because they believe everything on TV, start some protest group, gather up some political power and start a war on these so called “bullies
Now, I’m sure, if there is another race out there, there are more then one. And I’m also sure that they’ll be watching. But their media is better then ours so they’ll know the whole story and get pissed, ally up with all of the other races, and come over and kill off Earth with the logic, “It will be better for every one.”
And it’s done, I once thriving planet of well educated human and now become a race of drifters all on account of a select few. But of course, that’s the way society works now a days.
Okay, now I know I’ve been talking about he down side of space travel in the whole paper, but that’s just was comes to mind with I think about it. Now I’m sure it will be this great and wondrous concept, but if we don’t do it right the first time, we may not have a second change to do it again. We need find some way to make a peaceful first contact, a way to show that we mean no harm; we just need a place to stay. I’m sure, once we have established that, then, and only then, will we be set.