CmdrShepSpectre2183

Back in the 2000s most American sci fi books were bland right wing gung ho stuff published by "Baen". The best space adventures during the 2000s were from British Authors. Alastair Reynolds, Iain M. Banks, Neal Asher, Peter F. Hamilton, etc. The British dared to dream of space and the future in the 2000s! The British dared to see outer space as a place filled with wonder, awe, and unique alien lifeforms rather than a place filled with war and bugs! But since James S.A. Corey's "The Expanse" series shown up back in 2011 there has been a boom in space adventure by American authors set in new and creative sci fi futures. The characters are better. The science is better. The worlds are much more imaginative. They are far less overboard with the excessive right wing politics. Nothing wrong with having an opinion, I dislike both parties to be honest, but the Baen stuff was so political to the point of it being embarrassing. I wish we had stuff like this during the 2000s. It would have been nice if an American author had given the book world it's own equivalent of "Mass Effect" back during the 2000s.

It seemed like during the 2000s American society was either encouraged to be overly obsessed with exercise, muscle cars, and the NFL or owning a rich mansion and being like a Kardashian. Why can't these men be both strong and smart? Like the astronauts? What was to blame for this? Hollywood? Has there been a pushback against this? It seems like there is no more stigma against fantasy themed TV shows with the massive success of "Game of Thrones". Would society be a better place if "meatheads" aspired to be more like astronauts?

Back in the early 2010s it seemed like much of society lost interest in space and the future. Reality TV was all the rage. Passionate sci fi fans throughout the internet were vocal about the decline of sci fi. https://practicalfreespirit.com/2011/09/06/to-infinity-and-beyond/ https://www.impossiblepodcasts.com/2012/02/rayguns-and-rocket-ships-can-books-save.html https://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2012/06/mind-meld-has-space-opera-lost-its-luster/ https://ricochet.com/226027/archives/the-death-of-the-space-opera/ https://gizmodo.com/why-we-need-more-space-adventures-5837047 Around the same time a speech by Neil Degrasse Tyson was circulating throughout the internet proclaiming that we stopped dreaming. But how much of this is due to society becoming too comfortable and/or greedy? A large part of society struggled after the 2008 crisis and still are to this day but there also seemed a be a large part of society that were perfectly comfortable with the status quo. The Suburban Class. Big house in a safe suburban neighborhood, a nice family, vacations to places like Disney World or the Bahamas each year, etc. Life on Earth is good enough already, so why dream and expend energy working towards a "Star Trek" like future? That is the reality show demographic!

Obsessed with building prisons and perpetuating a cycle of misery and stupidity. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/02/10/rise-and-fall-of-a-prison-town-queen They should aspire to intelligence. They should be inspired by science and space travel.

I feel this women deserves a husband who is much better looking than her current husband.

Perhaps a new "Cold War" would force American society to curb extreme individualism and a new "Space Race" would make society more supportive of science. There seems to be an effort to get the next generation excited to become astronauts.

I now consider myself a "futurist". I am no longer afraid of GMOs and nuclear power! I agree with Robert Zubrin all the time! I would love to build a next generation nuclear power plant right next to them and watch them squeal. I wish California was mostly middle class people who believed in science and space exploration. I want humanity to dream again! I want humanity to aim for the stars again! The power of spaceflight and space exploration shouldn't be in the hands of a tiny few who are super wealthy! I wish the rich aspired to be more like astronauts rather than act like reality show stars. America needs a cultural shift! Perhaps COVID is that forcing function that will facilitate this cultural shift. I want a future where no one distrusted science. Ad Astra!

Congrats to them but I find it sad that NASA doesn't have one single astronaut that has been born in the 90s yet! There is an Arab one! Apparently countries like the UAE and China have done a better job at getting young people interested in science and technology. Or was it all by design? The American government wanted Millennials and Gen Z to be "dumbed down"? There seems to be an effort by the American government to get the next generation of American youth excited to become astronauts.

There were some aspects of Cold War society that was better. People were more physically fit. People were more excited for space travel. People were optimistic for an interstellar future even under the threat of nuclear annihilation. The Middle Class was bigger. Now all people care about is hoarding wealth and materialism. What happened? I wish more of society would aspire to better themselves both physically and mentally. I wish more people and leaders would become more interested and determined to push us in the direction of a "Star Trek" future rather than spend billions on yachts and military toys. I like SpaceX's technology but I am not too comfortable with the future of spaceflight being in the hands of just one man.

It seems like there is an effort to get the next generation interested or even excited for space. Is this an effort to get the next generation interested? Or is this part of wider pop culture becoming interested in space again? There was a lot of astronaut stuff that came out last year. What has led to this explosion in interest? SpaceX and the astronaut movies of the early 2010s, "Gravity", "Interstellar", and "The Martian" leading to renewed interest? Earth becoming depressing that many of us now look to the stars as a place to "escape"?

There are plenty of "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" shows on right now but where is our gritty sci fi futuristic war saga? I grew up with games like "Command & Conquer" and "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri" in the 90s. It would be awesome if they could make a show about a group of humans who travel off to a far off solar system and then split off into unique factions. "Command and Conquer" was the first fictional universe I fell in love with and it could make for an awesome future war show. Where is our sci fi equivalent of "Game of Thrones"? We need more powered armored super soldiers on our TV screens! Has the depressing state of the world cause society to gravitate for more fantastical settings like superheroes and fantasy? Or since we already live in the future with computers and space travel we desire these more fantastical settings?

As a gun loving but tolerant independent should I be afraid of the "Trumpers"? https://www.salon.com/2021/09/28/americas-fate-looks-bleak-will-it-be-oligarchy-or-autocracy/ Or are they an overstated threat? How worried should I be for my Muslim friends? I will die fighting before I allow anyone to hurt them!

I find it sad that none of the best looking and most popular students at my college were not interested in engineering or science. I find it even sadder that no one I knew ever dreamed of becoming an astronaut. I wish we had a space program that is more like "For All Mankind".

Have you noticed space becoming big in pop culture? It may have started in the early 2010s with movies like "Gravity", "Interstellar", "The Martian", "Hidden Figures", and the return of "Star Wars" and I am willing to be that "Kerbal Space Program" and "Mass Effect" contributed but but now it is exploding. There was also "The Expanse" novels and show. Last year we got a ton of astronaut themed soap operas and documentaries. "For All Mankind" and "Challenger Final Flight" were the best of them. "Among the Stars" is excellent as well. For those of you who are younger pop music is starting to become more "spacey". Dua Lipa's "Levitating" which I hear all the time on the radio. Imagine if it becomes the "Fly Me to The Moon" of this decade. Ariana Grande even has a song called "NASA". There is also "Astronaut in the Ocean". An astronaut even appears in a music video for a song that is not space themed. We are going to get some big budget space sci fi games. "Starfield", "Beyond Good & Evil 2", a game based on the "Guardians of the Galaxy", a Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic remake and Jedi Fallen Order sequel, as well as the return of Mass Effect and Kerbal Space Program. Also toys and books aimed at children. "Dune" has the potential of becoming the next pop culture phenomenon in the vein of "Lord of the Rings", "Star Wars" or "Game of Thrones. There is also a movie based on "Buzz Lightyear" and an Hollywood adaption of Andy Weir's "Project Hail Mary". Hopefully these movies are successful and lead to Hollywood keep on making more space movies. Is space becoming as big in pop culture as it was during the 50s and 60s? If so then what is driving it? The spectacular achievements of SpaceX? Access to more good sci fi than ever before? More exciting discoveries made in space? Earth becoming more of a depressing place leading more and more people to look at space as a place for escape?

How would you feel if a moderate who was afraid of the direction America was going and started his own political movement called the "Freedom" or "Americana" movement? He labels the governments of China and Russia as enemies of all mankind. He calls Russia a "Frozen Shithole". He criticizes the Democratic party as "cowardly" and "soft". He decries the Republican party for falling in love with Russian style authoritarianism. He advocates for the legalization of marijuana and ending the patriot act. He says too many cops have the "Russian mentality". He proclaims he will never let America become a "shithole" like Russia. He then converts most of the non voters, many democrats, and even a few Republicans into gun loving independents and surprisingly is elected president in 2024. He then sends his personal militia into Minneapolis to remove the "Weak Cowardly Fake Liberal" leaders and "Russian style thug police". How would you feel about America if that happened? And this is his theme song.