earthling jerks

Leave it to us humans to brazenly lay claim to territory that so completely isn't ours. It wasn't bad enough when we first stepped onto the moon's surface, hitting golf balls and planting the American flag. Now, we're actually going to crash forcefully into it without regard for the damage we'll inflict upon it.

Why? Because it serves our purposes. Because we think we have a right. Because we're too obtuse to think that other living creatures might already be there (even if they don't meet the narrow criteria for "life" that we've established as absolute). Because we're cocky and overconfident and brash. Because we got away with forcefully taking land we wanted before (even if it did decimate indigenous cultures like Native Americans and Aborigenes).

Maybe it's the poet in me. The moon is beautiful and mysterious, and maybe I think it should stay that way. Maybe it's the Trekkie in me, thinking it's best not to interfere. Maybe it's just too early in the morning for me to be reading about this sort of thing.

Off to work for me. Maybe I'll see the moon, translucent in its morning descent, lazily heading off to its daytime sleep.

Click here for an explanation for this photo of the moon.