If We Can Put a Man on the Moon

If I had a dollar every time I heard someone make the analogy “If we can put a man on the moon then we can solve all our national problems”, I’d be a rich man. First of all, most people alive today had nothing to do with putting a man on the moon. Secondly, greater than 99 percent of all Americans alive today could not contribute anything tangible to a project to put a man on the moon. And when I talk about contributing to a moon landing, I mean something practical. I am not talking about all the lawyers and bureaucrats, employed by NASA or subcontractors, who have failed to build a book shelf let alone design the robust electrical, chemical, and mechanical systems that make up a successful trip to the moon. Thus, it is up to less than 1 percent of our population to solve America’s problems, whilst the rest of the population talks about the ease of converting our country to renewable energies, inventing a practical electric car, and a practical hybrid car that can obtain 200 miles per gallon of gas. It is a known fact that a vast majority of people simply do not understand the physics of designing a battery that will make an electric car, hybrid car, and solar energy panels practical. By practical I mean both robust and cost efficient. Heck, most people simply do not understand the basic drawbacks of renewable energies and their reliance on weather patterns. Solar energy is rendered useless in darkness and even the best wind farms produce energy less than 50% of the time. Any person with commonsense or any practical problem solving skills must surmise a reliable back up energy source is needed when renewable energies go off line.

“If we can put a man on the moon” is an ignorant analogy made by many elite scholars. I have always said, if you cannot offer any practical solutions to our problems, you have no right to complain, set goals, and enforce rules, regulations, mandates, and restrictions for these problems. Al Gore and President Obama are perfect examples of people who are not part of solution, but part of the problem when talking about turning America green in 10 years. They place CAFÉ standards on automobiles and carbon emission standards on corporations without even the least minute understanding of the laws of physics, thermodynamics, or electricity.

When Americans make the “If we can put a man on the moon” analogy they are really not talking about “we” but the select few who have the knowledge to do so. What’s worse, many of the individuals capable of solving our major problems, such as renewable energy, are not even American citizens or American bred. Today, less than half of all corporate engineers working for American companies are born in the United States. And this percentage is decreasing rapidly as fewer kids have the math and science skills to make it as an engineer. Thus, we are a nation full of elitist intellectuals that are lawyers or educators with some basic liberal arts degree that claim to be “know it alls”. They claim to understand how to fix our complex national issues. It reminds me of the expression “anything is easy if you do not have to do it”. Hence, it’s not the informed scientist who makes the most noise protesting complex national issues, but the elitists who cannot solve nor can they even offer logical suggestions to solve any problems.

America would be a much better place if individuals would keep their super egos in check and stop complaining and bickering about our national problems they do not technically understand. Until individuals know what it takes to put a man on the moon, I suggest they stop interfering on issues they do not understand. This is divisive and polarizing behavior which is building barriers that only make solving these complex issues much more difficult. So it is time to put up or shut up, a time to quietly make a difference or nosily attract attention to your ignorance.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)