American Boundaries --- Katie McPherson

What is it that drives a person to challenge their boundaries?  Americans have always felt they needed a “frontier” to escape into, and even had a sort of panic once they heard that their frontier was “closed.”  Is not freedom, as it has been so wisely coined, “another phrase for nothing left to lose?” 

Ahh…the American society.  It was said that her streets were paved with gold because she was so rich.  Everyone in America lives on their own, has complete freedom and the best form of government around, and is completely rich.  And for those exact reasons, she is still struggling to overcome issues on welfare, how to help the many people under the poverty line, what to do about slums and the problems they breed, etc. For crying out loud, her citizens struggle to get a well-used street re-paved with tar, never mind anything richer!  And if America is such a utopia, such a dreamy society, why on earth would its citizens ever feel the need to have a ready place to escape to, never mind go into a panic about it?! 

But the fear soon died away once Americans, or American politicians rather, realized that they were only kidding themselves—there were tons of frontiers to be had.  They just needed to know where to look for it.  So, they continued to settle their westerly lands, while they turned their eyes towards other countries that beckoned like a flashing sign, “Frontier.  Conquer me.”  Their first real chance to use this idea came after they stuck their noses into the now called Spanish-American War, as they now demanded a little retribution for their hard work.  “We did, after all, rid you poor, unfortunate Latinos of those awful Spaniards, so please come quietly under our ‘protection.’”  Diplomacy with these nations was also a new horizon for the American government.  They were not used to having real influence over other nations, but they soon learned that they liked it.  Domestic issues like the aforementioned died away in their importance over time, to be replaced by the responsibility to free Europe from itself; then, later, from a madman.  Communism became issue number one for everyone in the Senate.  (“What?  You say you’re starving and you want me to do something about it?  Ooh!  You’re a communist!”)   Congress decided that feeding its own people was not quite as important as feeding their egos by storing up their arsenal, or winning wars across the globe, or  being the first to travel to an empty black blob of air, and that was going to spend most of their money.

Space exploration was at first only a quest to show the world that we were powerful enough to do it, and they weren’t; kind of childish, don’t you think?  But, for whatever the reasons the government chose to use as their excuse to spend so much money, the general populous usually had a much better reason for backing it.  The idea of space exploration had captured the imaginations of many for centuries.  The American moon landing gave everyone on earth hope that anything is possible, and that they should do their best to do the impossible in their everyday lives.  However, as a frontier, outer space is a much more challenging prospect.  Its costs are enough to make any taxpayer gasp for air, and many believe that space exploration will not be possible, but perhaps that will change over time.

I do not think that we should try to colonize space, considering our, um, less-than-perfect running record.I abhor intolerance and close-mindedness, and finding life from outside of earth would bring up a whole lot of questions for us to ask ourselves, assuming that they’re friendly, just as or less advanced than we are, and want any contact with us at all.  But my point is, look at the plight the black man had to endure through the centuries—slavery, being considered a second-class citizen—and then it was only their skin color that was different!  They say that history has a tendency to relive itself until it is learned from, and I really don’t believe that anyone on this planet, American or not, has learned enough from their mistakes to avoid imperialism as they colonize, to treat the natives as friends and no lesser than they, to avoid exhausting their new land, etc.  Maybe when humans realize that respect for others should also be considered an unalienable right, perhaps we will be ready to stretch the limits once again and greet what we might find there.

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