Re: "Raping the planets" and other PR disasters

From: Damien Broderick (d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Sat Jun 24 2000 - 02:03:39 MDT


At 11:36 PM 23/06/00 -0700, Hal wrote:

>Damien writes:
>> [...] People like Corey and Anders are simply
>> pointing out that couching our aspirations as *rape* [...]

>[...] there is a larger issue here than just using words
>like "rape".

Agreed. My bad in saying `simply pointing out', as if that was all they
were doing. I was projecting my own repugnance at rhetoric that filled me
with disquiet. But I still hope that people here find a less odious way to
describe their proposed actions in space, since many others will react the
same way I did.

And BTW, I now gain the impression that I misread Doug Jones' original post
anyway - that what he was doing, in using that unpleasant phrase, was
indicating forcefully the `tragedy of the commons' implicit in any evasion
of responsibility in exploiting extraterrestrial resources. `Pig in!', sort
of thing (as an Australian might say, clawing up the available food from
the table).

Damien



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