Wendell Berry, Mars, and Manifest Destiny
Should we be going to Mars? I would love to hear your thoughts.
A number of folk have recently signed up to receiving Over the Field off the back of
’s recent piece on the necessity of Wendell Berry’s wisdom for the cultural and political moment we are all living in. In this short update, I want to welcome these new readers and give my existing readers an update on a long-form piece I am working on as well as inviting your comments on some of the themes relating to this upcoming essay.There has been lots of noise recently about the American “manifest destiny” of going to Mars. It appears that the two individuals at the helm of the American nation are committed to this somewhat unfathomable vision.
This got me thinking, what would Wendell Berry have to say about this? Especially in light of this quote from his speech It all Turns on Affection:
“No doubt there will always be some people willing to do anything at all that is financially or technically possible, who look upon the world and its creatures without affection and therefore as exploitable without limit.”
On the basis of this quote (and indeed, the entire corpus of his writing), I believe Mr Berry would be firmly against the whole idea of going to Mars as a fulfilment of a supposed manifest destiny. I am currently writing a long-form piece that argues this very point. My preliminary reasoning is that this vision rejects the goodness of limitations by implying our destiny transcends this planet; is ecologically costly; and incurs a high opportunity cost in that the immense amount of money spent on getting us to Mars could have been used to help resolve some of the pressing environmental, social, and financial challenges the modern world is facing. These issues should, I believe Mr Berry would argue, take precedence over any martian exploits.
But these are my preliminary thoughts. I would greatly value hearing from all of you. Do you agree that Mr Berry would be against this vision? If so, why/why not?
I would also love to hear your own thoughts on the while idea of a ‘martian manifest destiny’. Is this something you want to see happen? Are you happy for your leaders to work towards and invest towards this aim? What philosophical considerations and implications are there? You never know, your thoughts might warrant a footnote and a mention in my essay. The comments section and my email inbox are open for discussion.
It may be a while before this essay is published. Partly, this is due to my focus this year on writing less but writing better (which I am sure your inboxes will appreciate!) In the meantime, I leave you with two essays I wrote last year that touch on some of the issues I aim to cover in this future essay. And as always, my extensive essay archive found here.
The Cost Of Reading Wendell Berry
Investing In The Precious Land
Finally, the next Wendell Berry Reading Group will be happening in a month’s time where we will be considering one of Berry’s foundational essays, The Agrarian Standard. Details can be found here.
Warmly
Hadden
Pretty sure Wendell and Tanya oppose the Mars fantasy. They have spoken, unequivocally, against expenditures for Moon exploration for decades.
Thanks for including us as you work on your next piece. It’s fun to hear how you’re working things out.