Page 113

I'm currently reading "Choice Not Fate" by James A. Vedda, Ph.D. It's a dry volume of 201 pages that rambles from historic interpretation to beltway praise for inane space policy and regularly promises the reader discussion on side points in later chapters that never come. On page 113 the author finally gets around to saying what I believe the entire book is actually about.

In the future, NASA must be prepared to make judgments that will be interpreted as endorsements of particular companies or technical paths serving space markets, such as who receives government assistance and who doesn't. This places NASA in the position of making industrial policy decisions on who gets to develop space infrastructure and resources.

Jesus, really? Up until this point I took the author's constant negative references to partisanship as a distaste to politics and assumed he had no particular leaning, way to yank the veil back dude. Now I have to consider whether not I should finish reading this pinko trash.

Update: Well, I made it to page 139 and after telling us why eliminating aging and the invention of teleporters might have unexpected side-effects (gee, ya think?) Dr Vedda introduces the reader to the travesty of ITAR restrictions as they related to the space industry. He explains that these laws were extended from just guns and bombs to anything that may have a "duel-use" (sic). Ok, so it's just a typo right? If it is, it's one he makes multiple times. I guess the state department is afraid of a return to "satellites at 100 paces" :)

Update: I finished it. Overall I agree with the message of this book: the industrialization of space has and will continue to improve the lives of people on Earth. So if you know someone who has the same political leaning as the author, I'd recommend this book to them.

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