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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

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rshow55 - 07:34am Jul 7, 2003 EST (# 12872 of 12874)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

There are basic human needs - and that "wish list" would have to link to them 666 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.QCu1brmCngF.723754@.f28e622/826

Here are some basic, universal relationships that we need to take into account -- and that make our opportunities clear.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs by William G. Huitt Essay and Image: http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html

Berle's Laws of Power taken from Power by Adolf A. Berle . . . 1969 ... Harcourt, Brace and World, N.Y.

“ The "0th" rule . . . . "Power is always preferable to chaos. ...To control chaos, people work in frameworks of power. According to Berle, these frameworks are always subject to five rules

8873 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.QCu1brmCngF.723754@.f28e622/10400

" If the sophistication and focus that have been applied over the last few years to beer can manufacture were brought to bear on the problems of international peace - we'd solve the problems involved.

We'd solve other problems, too.

8830- 8833 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.QCu1brmCngF.723754@.f28e622/10356 included this:

I've been hoping the President Bush will go down in history as one of the greatest presidents the US has had - as the president who took the actions that resulted in the solution of big problems the world has faced - problems that have greatly increased human risks and costs for decades.

It isn't that I've hoped that solutions would occur according to Bush's exact specifications - power doesn't work that way. . .

The President of the United States has to act - and to do that well - he needs to be right - needs to have good judgement.

The techniques that make good judgement possible will always be difficult - but we can do better than we've done before.

Short summaries can condense important relationships - and this is a basic one.

" Be sure you're right. Then go ahead.

If the President, and others, can't be sure - they need to find ways to be as sure as possible. And work in converging sequences with good outcomes. There's some room for improvement.

The "wish list" lchic refers to surely includes peace, prosperity, and room for human freedom and diversity.

To do better, some issues of "nuts and bolts" matter - and some of the key problems were clear by the 1960's. The story of Osprey - and other military contracting involves a key point. People are being asked to do - contracting to do - things they don't know how to do - and analytical techniques - including "connecting the dots" need to be be better than they've been. A lot of progress is possible - and some has already occurred.

A big problem now is to recognize where we are - and where we've been - so we can have a better chance to get where we'd like to be.

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