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From: ccrdave@ucdavis.UUCP (Lord Kahless)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: What to do when the aliens arrive.
Message-ID: <22@ucdavis.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 25-Aug-85 21:18:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucdavis.22
Posted: Sun Aug 25 21:18:08 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 27-Aug-85 01:17:01 EDT
References: <3368@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Organization: University of California, Davis
Lines: 28


>                                                   Although Western society
> subjugated natives in four continents, we weren't as far above them as we
> would like to pretend.  Any star-voyaging race that finds us will be further
> ahead of us than we are ahead of Cro-Magnon man.
>                    Star travelling peoples won't have fought a war in several
> generations.  They aren't going to re-learn just for us.
>                                                          /Bruce N. Wheelock/

I see no reason to believe the above statements.  Let's look at Earth
history.  Wars are probably the greatest motivation for technology
in mankind's history.  Look at how much money was spent for R & D
during W W II.  Look at the results of the short period between
1935 and 1945.  The A bomb, the suborbital rocket, the computer,
and radar, all developed during that brief period.

Think where we would be now if we had been spending as much money
on development over the last forty years as we did during that
period.  How much closer would we be to the stars?  Would we
have already gained a foothold on the outer planets?  Would
we have plans for the stars?

I believe an alternate view.  A society of ruthless high technology
warriors, who remain high technology by putting their resources
into R & D and get the resources by warfare.

				Lord Kahless
				ucbvax!ucdavis!vega!ccrdave