Photo:Don Pettit Spacewalk Selfie; Author:NASA on The Commons
The latest attack on human achievement comes from Savannah Mandel, a self-described “outer space anthropologist.” This Virginia Tech PhD candidate made the ridiculous claim that space exploration is imperialism. According to Mandel, the great ambition to explore and gain resources from moons and meteors is another form of colonial exploitation that benefits the wealthy at the expense of the rest.
This is emblematic of the anti-progress insanity coming from so-called progressives. These leftists want to prioritize grievance narratives over innovation and advancement.
Western culture has always been driven by a hunger for discovery and achievement. Our exploration of the stars represents the triumph of freedom, ingenuity, and hope. If we can tap into the resources locked up in celestial bodies, it could benefit everyone, not just the rich.
Yet Mandel warns that space mining might increase wealth inequality—a baseless assumption rooted in the left’s obsession with redistribution rather than creation.
Mandel also wants more “social scientists” at NASA to inject her brand of anti-colonial rhetoric into space policy. This is absurd. The success of organizations like NASA depends on engineers, astronauts, and physicists—not ideologues who see oppression behind every innovation. Injecting social theory into the space program would only stifle progress and undermine American leadership in space.
Instead of encouraging bold exploration, Mandel advocates for a future in which humans remain Earth-bound, paralyzed by guilt over imagined sins. She fears that space exploration will lead to an “Elysium Effect,” where only the wealthy benefit from progress. But the real threat isn’t the wealthy leaving Earth behind—it’s the defeatist mindset that Mandel and her ilk promote, which ensures no one moves forward at all.
The future belongs to those who dare to explore, not those who are determined to shame humanity into stagnation.
This post originally appeared at https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/liberalism-and-conservatism/big-government/the-lefts-war-on-space-exploration/
Phyllis Schlafly