United Earth? New Horizons & Nationalism

[Horizons96]

The recent trek by the New Horizons probe launched in 2006 through the Sol system, and flying by Pluto while sending the first ever highly detailed pictures and data of the dwarf planet made me think about our collective identity as humans making our foray into space. As people will undoubtedly already be aware the NH mission represents the next biggest exploratory step for humans into the farthest reaches of our system.

One of the pictures featured in the media particularly spoke to me, it features an exuberant crowd of New Horizons team members (and guests) celebrating the success of the probe's flyby, while an ocean of U.S. flags are waved. (seen in this article)

Seeing this picture makes me feel excited.. ..excited for the team's success as well as excitement to be an.. an... Australian?

Now, I realize the New Horizons program was an American idea, paid for by American taxpayers and featuring (mostly) American ingenuity... but surely in this day and age this is an occasion to be celebrated by humanity as a whole without the need for superfluous patriotism. There was some reliance on other countries' expertise to pull off the mission successfully (for example the Australian team at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex were instrumental in NH's success)

What do people think about this? For me this whole thing reinforces how stale the notion of nationalism is becoming. I can understand its importance during the height of the cold war and space race, but that was half a century ago. Are we not at a point now, with things like the internet (and the global village mentality it contributes to) that we can start to see ourselves primarily as a globally united front, while still having some consideration for national identity but without the need for nationalistic mass flag waving?

"Our true nationality is mankind" - H.G. Wells

Does this picture elicit different feelings in people, especially those very familiar to the Star Trek universe's history and feel?

 

[Gov Kodos]

Yeah, genetics proves we're all really one folk, one blood. Time we had one world with one leader. I'm sure it will be a piece of cake getting the assorted 6 or 7 billion folks to agree all those differences in religion, culture, class, and what not should be cast aside for the one shining path of truth and harmony. It be a piece of cake to get them all to agree. Any who don't, well, the hell with them. We can set aside, oh, Australia, we'll just transport the ones who don't like it there.

 

[T'Girl]

First off Horizons96 nice photoshop with the flags.

To your basic question, no. Certainly at this time Humanity isn't (imho) ready for a "one world" anything, and we won't be for sometime to come. If it happens in the future naturally that would be one thing, but forcing the issue politically would be a profound mistake.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Venturing into Outerspace is entirely about nationalism. It's why Man landed on the Moon in the first place, it wouldn't have happened at all without it. The Apollo Program didn't plant flags of the United Nations on its surface. And if it had been Humanly possible to defend any declared territory in Space, then all of this talk about peaceful exploration of it would've never come up. And the U.S. has switched its sights from revisiting the Moon, to landing on some Near Earth Asteroid, pretty much entirely for the prestige of having gotten there, first. In the same way, New Horizon's visit to Pluto is all about good ol' American know-how.

Whilst governments may boast and brag, not everyone influential is a flag waver. In 1775, Samuel Johnson made the famous pronouncement that "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

 

[horatio83]

There is little to think about, on a normative level chauvinism is a bad thing whereas human universalism, and its implication of a good, centralized, progressive world government, is a good thing.
On a descriptive level there is on the other hand no tendency right now for decent worldwide governance. The UN is still too weak and the forces that actually exert power worldwide are corporatist and undemocratic.

Venturing into Outerspace is entirely about nationalism. It's why Man landed on the Moon in the first place, it wouldn't have happened at all without it.

I disagree as it was a pure historical contingency that we got out there due to the space race. It could have happened in plenty of other ways.

 

[Horizons96]

First off Horizons96 nice photoshop with the flags.

To your basic question, no. Certainly at this time Humanity isn't (imho) ready for a "one world" anything, and we won't be for sometime to come. If it happens in the future naturally that would be one thing, but forcing the issue politically would be a profound mistake.

Cheers

Yes I agree, we don't currently seem to be ready for a single world identity, and forcing the issue politically certainly wouldn't be a good idea. Hitler wanted a new world order... imagine what that would've been like...

The United Nations is a good example of a future United Earth though...

Time we had one world with one leader. I'm sure it will be a piece of cake getting the assorted 6 or 7 billion folks to agree all those differences in religion, culture, class, and what not should be cast aside for the one shining path of truth and harmony. It be a piece of cake to get them all to agree. Any who don't, well, the hell with them.

I don't think oversimplification and sarcasm serve this complex issue well.

Venturing into Outerspace is entirely about nationalism. It's why Man landed on the Moon in the first place, it wouldn't have happened at all without it. The Apollo Program didn't plant flags of the United Nations on its surface.

Yes totally nationalism was (and still is) a huge inspiration to countries venturing out into space - China being another case in point. I would say that NASA's planting of the US flag on the moon had more to do with propaganda aimed at those in their living rooms than the powers that be feeling like their soil had conquered. I wonder how different the public felt about the US flags flying in Vietnam at the time after seeing the one on the moon... as one little example...

Regarding the cold war though, remember JFK had initiated dialogue with Khrushchev regarding a proposed joint US-USSR space program. He also had other plans to lessen to intensity of the cold war and even involvement in Vietnam... We know how that all ended up... not as much money and power to be had if people are co-operating...

The U.N.'s Outer Space Treaty seems a good measure to mitigate the encroachment of stagnant nationalism bleeding out into the cosmos...

 

[2takesfrakes]

horatio83:

The space program was (and is) funded by taxpayers. And when the United States beat the Russians to the Moon, the American people started resenting having to continue to fund these sorts of missions. Only a competition with Russia who was trying to head there, already, would've rallied the people to fund such a project. Yes, we look back, now, and see all of the technological payoffs that going to the Moon started, like making computers and their parts very much smaller, fireproofing materials and all of that. But that wasn't the thrust of it, at all. The thrust of it was National Pride and once that was satisfied, the only thing that kept us going back the few other times we did was contractual. As soon as the Apollo program could be cut, it was cut.

 

[hux]

A one world mentality won't happen until we're invaded by aliens who want to probe our anuses.

Two reasons to look forward to the invasion.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Time we had one world with one leader. I'm sure it will be a piece of cake getting the assorted 6 or 7 billion folks to agree all those differences in religion, culture, class, and what not should be cast aside for the one shining path of truth and harmony. It be a piece of cake to get them all to agree. Any who don't, well, the hell with them.

I don't think oversimplification and sarcasm serve this complex issue well.

Sure, it does. Just as well as your simplistic notion of human universalism.

 

[mos6507]

Yes. Australia actually plays a part in all space probe missions via its participation in the global deep space network.

http://csirouniverseblog.com/2015/06/24/pluto-t-20-days-and-counting/

I agree that the flag-waving is a bit much.

 

[BillJ]

Lord forbid American citizens at an American university show a little pride in our country when something is accomplished.

 

[Chronos]

Humans are not ready for a world government. The "us and them" mentality which can be found in every part of the world is evidence of this. Things won't change until we're all more interested in making friends than enemies.

 

[Autistoid]

Anti Nationalist sentiments to me are a rather petty attitude for people claiming the high road.

Competitive abstract goals like landing on the moon are prime examples of why competition among peoples is a beautiful thing.

I feel like people that criticize nationalism are just being downers. Were star trek fans after all, emotional fixations have value, just because your not part of something seems petty to dump on it.

It's history is written in the minds of the victors. We defeated people we labelled exclusively nationalist in the 1940's, and instead of viewing the past in a more accurate lense we ignore alot of the upsides to nationalism.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't think we will ever have a true one-world government. The closest we're ever likely to get is giving the UN a bit more 'teeth'.

 

[M47]

I was watching that celebrations live with my mum and sister and at the time I commented about space exploration still being about nationalism. And how it seems a bit ironic when it's SPACE their dealing with.

My mum commented on how nationalism is just an extension of tribalism.

But we do understand that it's the politics that funds it space exploration.

A one world mentality won't happen until we're invaded by aliens who want to probe our anuses.

Two reasons to look forward to the invasion.

Well if life is discovered beyond, especially if their intelligently superior could help humbling our species.

I wonder if nationalism will decline with space tourism? I mean space tourism at the level where the common person goes to Mars and maybe the moons of the outer planets sees the Earth like a star.

Earth as seen by the Curiosity rover on Mars:

Though nationalism still thrive in our time despite most people know the Earth is tiny relative to the vast Universe.

At the end of the day it's up to individuals how they interpret the size of the Earth relative to the Universe.

 

[2takesfrakes]

The only institution that I'm aware of that has universal acceptance and respect on a global scale is Doctors Without Borders. Even terrorists seem to kind of want to give them a break. But even with our imaginary lines and politics, the people of the Earth haven't really done that badly. We haven't blown ourselves up - and the likelihood of Humanity destroying itself by any and all other means seems significantly low, at least for the rest of the 21st Century. But in the STAR TREK Universe, what the hell happened to France? The British still talk the same. Americans talk the same. Russians talk the same. But France has lost it's very cool accent, it seems. More's the pity ...

 

[Autistoid]

I don't think we will ever have a true one-world government. The closest we're ever likely to get is giving the UN a bit more 'teeth'.

A conjoined global government may be a real possibility.

However a shared one nation planet is a complete joke.

Diverse cutlures and identities shouldn`t be considered a bad thing.

This one world planet is driven by wealthy world citizens.

It`s economic imperialism at its heart.

Which may not seem like a threat to you when your part of the wealthy anglophone majority.

However it`s no different then the british empire running around with gun boat diplomacy forcing everyone to speak english.

 

[Nerys Myk]

If you could manage

To make the rhyme

Your posts could be mounted

On Burma Shave signs.

 

[sonak]

There is little to think about, on a normative level chauvinism is a bad thing whereas human universalism, and its implication of a good, centralized, progressive world government, is a good thing.
On a descriptive level there is on the other hand no tendency right now for decent worldwide governance. The UN is still too weak and the forces that actually exert power worldwide are corporatist and undemocratic.

Venturing into Outerspace is entirely about nationalism. It's why Man landed on the Moon in the first place, it wouldn't have happened at all without it.

I disagree as it was a pure historical contingency that we got out there due to the space race. It could have happened in plenty of other ways.

In the past I would have agreed, but the recent events have made me a little more wary. Now I think you'd need a good deal of protections, checks, and balances to prevent such a superstate from being largely run by bureaucrats, where the citizens get a symbolic "voice" that's then ignored. We don't get much detail onscreen on how Trek's United Earth government squares that.

 

[Ithekro]

There are still hints of regionalism in Trek based on old national lines as well as others. But it seems more like it does in the United States than in Europe, were you have certain thoughts about someone from the South verse someone from the Midwest, but it doesn't always come up. Europe is still a group of independent nations under an economic alliance of sorts. The regionalism is there in nationalism for British, French, German, Greek, and so on. I wouldn't imagine it be all that different for United Earth...at least until after the founding of the Federation. The old national cultures and thoughts would all still be there. Just the governmental structures would have a layer or two over them, the one more over that after joining the Federation.