“There is no new frontier - We got to make it here”- A plea for a real plan B

So mankind in the last odd 70 years has moved past looking to the stars as they said in the 1950s, moved past to setting foot on the moon to now thinking of setting up a human colony on Mars.

Is this quest being driven by our curious nature as mankind or is our desire to come up with a plan b in alternative living space the driving force behind this new venture? From what I can see it seems space habitats along the lines of the Space Station do not look so feasible as a habitat option unless you are a fan of sci- fi movies and they seem to pull it off with ease. So the next consideration is to set up shop on Mars.

Lets look at just the feasibility of it all, how many will go there and what criteria will be used to decide who goes and who stays and not to mention the means of travel. We are now operating in sci-fi mode, why? My belief is that mankind is driven by the desire of hope, that things can get better no matter how futile the belief is as long as there is a glimmer of hope man will pursue because the reality of lack of hope is too harsh for us to bear. So apart from giving mankind hope that we can abandon earth for a new frontier the quest to Mars offers a real exit plan for the super wealthy to flee a seemingly doomed earth. This exit plan does not accommodate the whole of mankind unfortunately.

Lets look at the generic information available about men’s attempt to go to Mars, what is required in terms of resources be they financial, time, human resource, skill and planning are just exponential beyond the imagination of most nations let alone individuals. In my ignorant estimation I believe Man requires a further 100 years to come up with a plan to move a few thousand humans to Mars. Meaning the rest of humanity will have to deal with the craziness earth is bound to offer in the coming years as Mother Nature goes bonkers.

Am I in the zone of thinking I will be alive then no, am in in the zone of thinking that a mass exit to Mars is the only option am not. The reality we face using current predictions on not only how big our population will grow but how in the next odd fifty years sub Saharan Africa will be a desert is scary. I am more than scared as I realize that the so-called plan B (flight to Mars) is too far off and not likely to accommodate much of the earths populace. Yet the predicated harsh reality of a bonkers mother earth is too close for comfort. Existence will just become too hard to bear sooner rather than later.

So in my lifetime I will continue to endure strange weather such as hot flushes, extremely wet periods, cold flushes as well as drought and as years drag on living will continue to get hard and there I am not even taking into account other factors such as the economy and all others. So scared me thinks that we can start the process of reversing the causes of climate change and adopt measures that ensure we do not worsen the situation. This is a real and feasible option than going to Mars and my fervent prayer is that Mother Nature will take our overtures of peace with a smile and delay the process of extermination of mankind. That to me is the real plan B.

I am an African in every sense and I worry not only about myself as a physical being but for my spiritual being as well. In the event of my passing my spirit should watch over my children and their children and so on as has been done by ancestors. I therefore wonder if my spirit will survive the disaster that looms in the horizon. So will my old age see me suffer as I see my children try to survive in a harsh environment? Will my spirit after my passing be at peace as it sees them looking for water, looking for food or trying to bring a healthy meal on their children’s table. Will my spirit have a home?

So I assert that for me and my soon to be troubled spirit there can be no other place save for this earth, this is my home and it shall be home for my children and their children and their children so its indeed my first and last frontier.

Surely humanity can come up with a plan b that wont leave me scared as I am for the future. Broader considerations are that developing nations must rely more on environmentally friendly mechanisms to bring about their development. Surely the truth is that Africa cannot solarize itself to the status of the first world.

My broad appeal is for reparations in every sense of the word. The west has moved past the development issues that most developing countries are dealing with through extensive destruction of the environment and using the most profane of resources be it colonization (human resource) to the use of non renewable sources of energy. They are now in the comfort zone and the broader call I am making is that they for the sake of humanity give us a realistic plan b. The plan that will give us an option that ensures that our next 100 years are bearable and while they consider leaving the earth let them leave it in a habitable state where my descendants can live with my spirit watching over them.

The word Ubuntu/hunhu comes to mind. Loosely translated its “doing right by the next human” and my call to the developed nations is for them to consider the rest of the inhabitants of this planet and alleviate the harsh reality they will face in the coming years. Do right by the rest of the inhabitants of earth and surely you can fly to Mars and beyond with a clear conscience that you attempted to make life possible on earth as best as you could and that those who could not join you in your journey are able to continue living on this PLANET. And do something not just pay lip service.

This is our home so treat it with respect, its not a college fret house were you can do what you want and leave no its my home its my last frontier its my all SHOW SOME RESPECT.

Written by Simba Machiridza