Erich Schneider ([info]erich_schneider) wrote,
@ 2008-10-13 11:33:00
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So, if we're about to enter Great Depression II, could we get WPA II working on building us a space elevator?

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[info]avocado_tom
2008-10-13 06:53 pm UTC (link)
The house minority whip has already said that from his perspective, this is off the table:

But, added Blunt, “[L]et’s not use the stimulus package as an excuse to do what Democrats have wanted to do from day one of this Congress, which is a huge public works plan.”

Source: http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=37344

Because you know, hell, that would be like the New Deal, and therefore evil. Nevermind our aging infrastructure and the fact that it would create jobs...

Bastards.

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[info]erich_schneider
2008-10-13 07:00 pm UTC (link)
Given today's political climate I wouldn't be quick to accept as reality any Republican congressman's assessment of what is and isn't politically possible...

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[info]avocado_tom
2008-10-13 08:49 pm UTC (link)
agreed.

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[info]unwilly
2008-10-13 07:53 pm UTC (link)
Oh, I wish.

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[info]ross_teneyck
2008-10-13 09:45 pm UTC (link)
Maybe I just haven't been keeping up, but I thought that the beanstalk concept still needed impractical amounts of unobtanium? Or has the magic word "nanotubes" gone from meaning "mystical material that makes dreams come true," through "not entirely implausible concept that we don't have the engineering for yet," and all the way to "thing that can actually be done"?

Besides, if we're going to start up a gigantic space-launch project, what happened to the classic giant equatorial rail gun? I always liked that one.

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[info]mycroftca
2008-10-13 10:06 pm UTC (link)
The Japanese, IIRC, are already working on its feasability. The last I heard about the nanotube projects is that they're somewhere in between NEICTWDHTEFY and TTCABD.

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[info]mycroftca
2008-10-13 10:04 pm UTC (link)
It's doubtful that anyone in Washington has that kind of vision. It's much more likely that they'll renovate auditoriums, bridges and roads. Of course, there was the Hoover Dam; it was a technological marvel for its day, so, I may be being too cynical...

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[info]drarbiter
2008-10-14 01:19 am UTC (link)
Well, we're not looking at Great Depression II -- probably something more like 1980, but at a much higher base standard of living.

But, if someone felt the need to find useful projects, I'd definitely go for general infrastructure improvements, including energy source diversity, before the space elevator, even if it was cooler.

A problem with economic policy since about 1980 is the "avoid-a-recession-at-all-costs" mentality -- which is one element in the chain of events that led us to the last few weeks, and led us to the point where anyone in the public under the age of 35 hasn't experienced a recession, and therefore doesn't know a recession from a depression (or, in some cases, from some bodily orifaces, either).

Another strike against the space elevator: is there *any* science fiction story where a space elevator doesn't wind up being used as a terrorist weapon?

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[info]erich_schneider
2008-10-14 08:04 am UTC (link)
Well, how about the granddaddy of all modern space elevator stories, The Fountains of Paradise?

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[info]drarbiter
2008-10-15 05:15 pm UTC (link)
I was trying to be flippant, and failed. Space elevators as terroristic weapons is mostly a development of the last 15-20 years.

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