Listen to old Blue Eyes- If you're going to spend my Tax Dollars, do it on something Worthwhile

My generation has been denied an experience that, for the briefest of moments, united humankind.  In a time of unparalleled fear, when two superpowers were geared for a war that could end our existence, a leader had the temerity to declare that we would achieve the impossible;

We would put a man on the moon.
My father still remembers the neighbourhood gathering around a tiny television.  My father is an immigrant, from Italy, and he grew up in downtown Toronto.  He has no discernible accent, but if you were looking to make a Hallmark movie about an immigrant kid making it big, you could do a lot worse.  He is generally a jovial man, with a slightly warped sense of humour (that he blames on my mother).  He is quietly tolerant, and though firmly political he believes in maintaining a certain dignity while being so.  It's rare to see my father genuinely upset by the opinions of others- he's mastered the art of brushing off most kooks and conspiracy theorists.  There are a few notable exceptions to this, however, and one I find most admirable is this:

My father is absolutely certain that we put a man on the moon.  It is a certainty that can come only from an education grounded both in engineering and history- he knows it is physically possible to put a man on the moon.  He also knows that in the historical context, there was no advantage to faking it on a sound stage (how could they possibly get away with it in the Golden Era of espionage?).  To imply, with whatever crackpot theory and shaky evidence, that the lunar landing was just some grossly overdone publicity stunt, is to attack the core of the democratic ideal: that nations can achieve great things through force of will, and for the benefit of all.

Some of you may be thinking "but Morgan, you hate government intervention, and the Space Program takes huge amounts of government spending!"  You're right. It might even be mildly hypocritical of me to dislike universal healthcare but to love the space program.  But consider this: the space program achieved what it promised, and more beyond our wildest dreams.  For every tax dollar put into getting a man to the moon, we got unbelievable returns in terms of new market products.  Unbelievably, when you really think about it, there was no opportunity cost to the Apollo missions!  Figuring out how to get a man to the moon led to medical advances.  It led to new industrial materials, from perfected velcro to new polymer blends.  The work that went into building the Saturn V rockets led to better, safer airplanes.  Our understanding of the human body would be centuries behind where it is now were it not for the experimentation and analysis on Astronauts.  Practically every aspect of your life is touched by technology that trickled out of the space program- miniaturization of electronics particularly.

And imagine- we put a man on the moon using slide rules and computers so basic that your average wristwatch is now more advanced.  My iPhone has more computing power than all of the onboard systems of Apollo 11 combined!  When Apollo 13's air purifier broke, they repaired it with duct tape and some socks.  What happened to that ingenuity?  The inspiration that led a nation fearing its own destruction at the hands of its enemies to spend massive capital on going to the Moon?  Practically speaking, a new Space Program centred on colonizing the moon and Mars would be the best bit of government spending I can think of.  You want more energy efficient cars that don't rely on petroleum?  Someone has to design the rover that colonists will use on Mars, and we can't guarantee there will be any oil.  You want food security?  The science that will allow for a self-sufficient colony on an atmosphere-free planet will make growing crops here on earth look like child's play.

The Canadian Air Force Motto is Per Ardua ad Astra- Through Our Efforts we reach the Heavens.  It's time we took that literally.