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From: JAROCHA-ERNST@RU-BLUE.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: What Invaders Want
Message-ID: <2927@topaz.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 26-Jul-85 09:30:50 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.2927
Posted: Fri Jul 26 09:30:50 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 28-Jul-85 03:16:11 EDT
Sender: daemon@topaz.ARPA
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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From: Chris Jarocha-Ernst <JAROCHA-ERNST@RU-BLUE.ARPA>


I just finished reading Wayne Throop's posting on this subject, in which he
says something like "Earlier postings have established that we would have
no material wealth that invading aliens would want" (apologies for any
drastic misquoting, but that was the gist of the comment).

I don't recall anyone saying that, and I would be surprised if anyone had.
Of course we have material wealth that invaders might want.  It's just not
likely to be the same materials we value as wealth.  It's the old gimmick
about aliens finding gold worthless because their cities back home are
built with it, but *wow* is that really granite?

I can easily imagine a technologically advanced race scouring other planets
looking for certain elements (I dunno, Chromium, or Tungsten, or something).
In fact, I can imagine them valuing certain materials, which we value highly,
even higher.  "Can you believe it, Chbik?  These humanoids were *burning*
their *hydrocarbons*!"

Never having seen an episode of V (hurray for me!), I can't conjecture too
successfully on why the lizards wanted water.  But answer this for me:
were they stealing salt water or fresh water?  Or tap water?

Chris

("...and *fissioning* their radioactive materials!"  "They must be mad, Hoon!")
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