I worry about us.

The level of ignorance out there is astounding.

I read an article in today’s online Globe and Mail about the Liberals’ promise to oppose space-based weaponry. I went on to read some of the comments posted by readers.

Jakub P from Ottawa, Canada writes: I’m wondering what else we can ban that does not exist…Illegal handguns will be banned (double-banned?) along with Death Stars and other space weapons.I would further suggest the pre-emptive banning of time travel so that Mary McFly can never travel back to 1955 and have his own mother fall for him further complicating our ongoing marriage debate.

But most importantly Paul Martin can never go back and fire his entire campaign team and deny us the best laughs in years at Liberal expense.

And…

Tex Arcana from Out There, Uganda writes:

Now I see why Paully was flapping his arms around so much in the debates. He was trying to propel his body into space to catch up with his mind.

It’s official – he’s totally lost it. Not only is he not fit to govern, but I’m not so sure he’s fit to be out on a day pass!

And so forth. I read maybe one in ten comments supporting the move. Where the proposal wasn’t met with outright scorn there was concern and even indignance that Canada was endangering what little goodwill we have left with the US:

P C from Canada writes:

Attention all Liberals,

The spaceship CSL Enterprise, of the Canada Steamship Lines and flying under the flags of Liberia, Cyprus and Vanuatu, is now boarding. Your flight is scheduled to depart on January 23rd for a destination far far away.

We will be serving snacks, beer and popcorn, and the movie is Titanic.

Fasten your seatbelts. We are expecting some severe turbulence as we may be under space weapon fire from our newly created american enemies.

Thank you for flying CSL.

And…

R Brampton from Brampton, Canada writes:

Not that I support our cooky neighbours to the south, but by continually snubbing them will inevitably cause us further harm.Let’s not forget how much US investment, manufacturing and business is conducted in Canada – it’s time we protect our friendship with our american neighbours, not tear it apart.

Mr. Martin, 12 years is long enough, you’re out of touch and the only thing we should ban is your reign on this country.

And…

Joel Elliott from Canada writes:

I think Martin is going senile. I was just think to myself this morning, “gee I hope the US doesn’t weaponise space!”. Or maybe Martin’s desparate attempt to hold onto power involves attacking the Americans whenever possible. This isn’t pretend Martin, you can’t just take shots and our most important ally just to gain votes. Maybe if Martin gets elected and keeps up this charade Canada will earn top spot on the US’s list of nations threatening the national security of America. See how much beef and softwood they buy then.

Obviously you care more about being elected than what is best for Canada.

Too many people feel this is an imaginary threat. This disturbs me profoundly because it’s been no secret for almost two decades that the US does indeed plan to fly a space-based umbrella of armament. Bush’s administration has even officially announced intention to assert military superiority in space regardless of how the rest of the world feels about it.

Such naivete on the part of Canadians is very worrisome to me. It is exactly this blase ignorance that will allow the US to move forward aggressively to a position of martial control of orbital space without opposition- simply because we were too ignorant to object.

If the US assumes military control of orbital space there can never be any exploration into that space without US sanction. And it doesn’t stop there. Never mind that an orbital anti-missile umbrella was obsolete when first proposed by the Reagan administration and hasn’t technologically advanced in twenty years. Never mind what more productive use could be made of those trillions of dollars.

No, just think of having a remote controlled arsenal floating above your head every day, controlled by a state that has already proven itself to be anything but altruistically motivated.

And cringing at insulting the Americans? Because we’re so dependant on US commerce? Such toadying drives me absolutely nuts. Let’s say the impossible happened, and I do mean impossible, and the US launched a trade embargo on Canada, ceasing all commerce and pulling out all investments. And when I say impossible I am really trying to say impossible, because America is capitalism, and too many Americans are making a boatload of cash up here to justify pulling out to satisfy some political hissy fit.

It. Will. Not. Happen.

But for the sake of argument let’s say it did. Suddenly, almost overnight, we are blocked from conducting business with the US. What happens? Well, first we scramble and panic and pull out our hair and scream at our irresponsible politicians for bringing us to the brink of disaster. But then we realise that this cliff we’re standing on offers a spectacular view we’ve never really appreciated before, having had the convenience of such a wealthy neighbour to keep us occupied. Occupied.

We see, quite literally, the rest of the world. And we do it standing on our own feet, maybe even on the sundeck we built with our own hands. We’re warm and sheltered and well-fed. We’ve got abundant clean water and all the energy we need. Our sexy friends Europe and Asia across the way are eager to play with us, and suddenly where it used to be the US vs The World with Canada stuck somewhere in the middle saying, “we know they’re bitches but they are convenient,” now it’s the US vs The World, full stop. Even the UK, seeing the trend, gets some balls and refuses to be a toady any more.

The fact is the US is abysmally in debt, and just as clearly has no intention of paying that debt off. The strategy is to entrench global economic and military control to the point where recovery of that debt is a non-issue. Irrelevent. Like asking your dad to pay back the $10,000 you loaned him.

I say 1) an orbital anti-missile system was unworkable when proposed two decades ago and is even less viable now. The world has already shown the threat will never again come from the sky. It travels in suitcase-sized dirty bombs, or in pseudo-religious zealotry that drives one to suicidal acts of terrorism. Never mind that the satellite defense system was effective in tests to the tune of one or two in seventy missiles anyway.

I say 2) trillions of dollars of ineffective military hardware does nothing for anyone except keep the poor poor and the rich comfortable in their illusion of safety. A textbook costs fifty bucks. A loaf of bread costs one.

I say 3) Canada enjoys good relations with the US in many ways, but we do not need them. In fact, a good kick in the national ass would do us a World of Good.

Further reading: Technical Implications of Space Weapons and General Conclusions