Contingency Plans

When things don't go as planned, human nature, intelligence, and being itself requires that we adapt and react with optimism and hope. Otherwise, we can quickly find ourselves in a nihilistic spiral (indeed, just look at nations/regions of the world where Secular Humanism has taken firm roots and the correlation of suicide).

In the spirit of this optimism--particularly for those who have seen that for the first time in American history one will be forced to purchase something just for the privilege of being a citizen--I post a contingency plan from yesteryear.

When the first men walked on the moon, they didn't know if they would return.  We know that it works out in the end, but this memo
shows that, in the midst of the excursion, leaders weren't so sure.  (Sure, other countries have passed the sort of laws as the US did this week; I submit that America was not founded on this mentality.  I would say that America was founded with a free-spirit and libertarian sentiment--coincidentally, this is where I tend to think.  Others honestly support the interpretation of 'the general welfare' of the country differently.  Moving forward, we can continue to have that disagreement and discussion.)

From July,1969:

"Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one;

in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the

constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are

epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search will not

be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost

in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will

know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind." 

-- Speech drafted for U.S. President Nixon for use "in the event of

moon disaster" during the first lunar landing. The text was found

in a memo to H.R. ("Bob") Haldeman from speech-writer William

("Bill") Safire, dated July 18, 1969, recently unearthed in the U.S.

National Archives.