I was watching Dan Snow with his show about the power of the Royal Navy and it was apparant that the willingness to spend money on the future was the key to Britains success in the 18th and 19th centuries. Even though it was encouraged by the threat of foreign invasion.
This week I read with disappointment that Mr Obama is cutting the US manned moon programme. The disappointment was that the un-inhabited moon will be annexed by who-ever goes and stays. It seems the Chinese and Indian governments are viewing their future power symbolised by moon colonies. Yet the US isn’t. The US will be a clipped wing power by 2050 like Britain is now and as someone who has always seen the US as a beacon of technology it isn’t something I want to see. Maybe I won’t because I’m too old now.
There are those who might think, sort out things on Earth first and such power plays are hostile and out-dated. To that the answer is that the wise man invests for the future while budgeting for the present, mankind would be in caves if the cave was to be sorted first. To that end we are always pushing the boundaries and getting better.