New White Paper

A new white paper by SpaceFarers Corporation examines how to establish a spacefaring civilization without government intervention by turning space technology development into a popular form of entertainment linked to sustainable living on Earth. The current view of the future produces an emphasis on sacrifice and austerity. In the proposed ethic, the most fundamental freedom is the freedom to leave. Our research indicates that promoting this freedom through a specific form of entertainment will produce sustainability with prosperity on, and off, the earth. The customary way to leave a civilization as recently as 1900 was to head for a frontier, defined as an isolated region of resources without proprietors and with anonymity for new arrivals. The absence of frontiers is termed enclosure, manifesting as a constellation of symptoms in common with “isolated confined environment syndrome,” including depression, anxiety, and anger. This is a global phenomenon, a fatal cocktail of emotions requiring a frontier formation response. We maintain that the only accessible and fully functional frontier at this time is the solar system. The white paper postulates that (1) enclosure results in reproductive failure of the enclosed population, producing senescence followed by collapse and (2) no mitigation can happen on the required scale unless a large segment of society views space frontier formation as fun. The first premise has been tested and found to be arguably true in rodents. SpaceFarers is implementing, a test case for the second premise blending science, technology, craft, and performance art. We are looking for collaborators. The paper is posted online at the SpaceFarers web site, www.AlienLandscapes.biz/tospci.html.