by Adrian Daniel Schramm | Jun 16, 2016 | Nonfiction
There is a stigma about growing old(er) in America that translates, usually, into ageism. Growing old is not a death sentence. Let me rephrase. The way the young view growing old is that life is over after 30 (or 35 or 40 if you’re lucky), while those who have made it past 30 will tell you that you don’t truly start living until after that. Ageism is exactly what it sounds like: Discriminating against someone because of their age. It’s the only negative “-ism” that America not only doesn’t protest or march against, but seems to embrace. We celebrate youth in America like we’re worried “Children of Men” is going to become a reality. (Note: Of course America is not the only place where this happens. But for the purposes of this article, we’re keeping it here.) Growing old is something to be laughed at, poked at, ridiculed, and shamed. Even as we’re living longer, and hearing things like “30 is the new 20” and “50 is the new 30” it seems people are worried more than ever about growing old. But like your skin color or sexual preferences, it’s not something you can control. Here we take a look at some of the attitudes and mindsets the American culture has about aging; about growing old, and being old. This world was made for robots We treat our elderly the way we treat our electronics. When someone gets too old, they get replaced by something newer, sleeker, sexier, younger. And it’s without shame. So, act like a robot. There is routine. Follow the routine: Wake up, go to work, come home. This routine will...
by Adrian Daniel Schramm | Jun 3, 2016 | Nonfiction
It was always only a matter of time before private companies got in on the space race. Taking over from NASA and other government entities as intrepid explorers of beyond our atmosphere, some pretty prominent voices have spoken up recently about conquering the cosmos. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Virgin’s Richard Branson, and, perhaps most notably, Elon Musk and his SpaceX program, have made rockets landing on Mars painted with a corporate logo an increasingly imminent reality. This isn’t inherently a bad thing. The private sector should always be able to step in where government hasn’t and, given the decline of governments all across the world to find and fund new missions to space, the potential is there to go further than we ever have before. But, as there aren’t really many rules governing the great unknown, and no one really seems to know who would enforce them if there were, who would stop private companies from going to war over it? Taking over the galaxy This is assuming that private companies/individuals find something worth fighting over, if gold was discovered on Mercury, for example (read more on space mining here: Space Mining Is Going To Accelerate The Military Space Race), as space exploration doesn’t offer much by way of riches. We know that long term domination of “the final frontier” would yield profit, sure; if we ever colonize Mars, being the first one there selling real estate with your logo stamped in the dust will surely be lucrative. First, we should establish what regulations currently exists. The “Outer Space Treaty” (full name: The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration...
