原文

Almost every day we see something in the papers about the latest exciting developments in the space race. Photographs are regularly flashed to the earth from thousands and even millions of miles away. They are printed in our newspapers and shown on our television screens as a visible proof of man's newest achievements. The photographs neatly sum up the results of these massive efforts to ‘conquer space' and at the same time they expose the absurdity of the undertaking. All we can see is an indistinguishable blob which is supposed to represent a planet seen from several thousand miles away. We are going to end up with a little moon-dust and a few stones which will be put behind glass in some museum. This is hardly value for money when you think that our own earth can provide countless sights which are infinitely more exciting and spectacular.

The space race is not simply the objective search for knowledge it is often made out to be. It is just an extension of the race for power on earth. Only the wealthiest nations can compete and they do so in the name of pure scientific research. But in reality, all they are interested in is power and prestige. They want to impress us, their spectators, with a magnificent show of strength. Man has played the power game ever since he appeared on earth. Now he is playing it as it has never been played before. The space race is just another aspect of the age-old argument that ‘might is right'.

We are often told that technological know-how, acquired in attempting to get us into orbit, will be utilized to make life better on earth. But what has the space race done to relieve the suffering of the earth's starving millions? In what way has it raised the standard of living of any one of us? As far as the layman is concerned, the practical results of all this expenditure of money and effort are negligible. Thanks to space research, we can now see television pictures transmitted live half-way across the globe and the housewife can use non-stick frying-pans in the kitchen. The whole thing becomes utterly absurd when you think that no matter what problems man overcomes, it is unlikely that he will ever be able to travel even to the nearest star.

Poverty, hunger, disease and war are man's greatest enemies and the world would be an infinitely better place if the powerful nations devoted half as much money and effort to those problems as they do to the space race. For the first time in his history, man has the overwhelming resources to combat human suffering, yet he squanders them on meaningless pursuits.

If a man deprived himself and his family of food in order to buy and run a car, we would consider him mad. Individuals with limited budgets usually get their priorities right: they provide themselves with necessities before trying to obtain luxuries. Why can't great nations act in the same sensible way? Let us put our house in order first and let space look after itself.

译文

我们几乎每天都在报章上读到太空竞争方面最新、最激动人心的进展。不断有照片从几千英里、甚至几百万英里外发回地球。我们作为人类最新成就的明证登在报纸上，出现在电视屏幕上。这些照片充分反映了人类付出巨大的努力去“征服太空”所取得的结果，同时也揭示了这种做法的荒谬性。我们所看到的只是一个模糊不清的小圆块，据说那便是一个从几千英里以外看到的星球。我们最后的收获将是一点月尘和几块石头，把它们放在某个博物馆的玻璃后面展览。为这些东西花钱实在不值得，因为你知道，我们自己的地球就可以提供无数比这更壮观、更激动人心的景观。

太空竞争的目的不单单是客观地探求知识，虽然它常常自命如此。它其实是在地球上进行的权利竞争的延伸。只有那些最富裕的国家才能参与竞争，并且他们总是打着纯科学研究的旗号。实际上，他们感兴趣的惟有权利和威望。他们希望他们对自己的力量所做的壮观的展示会给我们，他们的观众，留下深刻的印象。人类自从在地球上出现以后就开始玩权利游戏。现在他们更是把这种游戏玩得史无前例。太空竞争只是“强权即公里”这一古老论点的另一方面。

我们被告知，我们在努力进入空间轨道的时候所获得的技术窍门将有助于我们在地球上生活得更好。但是太空竞争又做了些什么来救济地球上千百万在饥饿中挣扎的人们呢？它在哪一方面提高了我们中间任何一个人的生活水平呢？照我们这些门外汉看，我们耗费那么多金钱和努力所取得的成就是微乎其微的。借助于太空研究，我们现在得以看到越过全球现场直播的电视画面，厨房里的家庭主妇也用上了不粘锅。但是不管人类征服了多少困难，他也不可能去最近的星球上旅行。想想这个，你就会觉得整个这件事情荒谬绝伦了。

人类最大的敌人是贫穷、饥饿、疾病和战争。如果世界上的强国把他们用于太空竞争的金钱和努力的一半用来解决这些问题，这个世界不知要变得比现在好多少。人类在自己的历史上第一次拥有了和人类不幸作战的强大技术力量，可是却把它们浪费在毫无意义的追求上。

要是一个人为了买车、驾车而让他自己和家人饿肚子，我们会认为他是个疯子。预算有限的个人通常会分清轻重缓急：先保障生活必需品，然后才希图奢侈品。那些大国为什么就不能同样明智地行事呢？我们还是先考虑我们的房子，让宇宙空间自己一边儿呆着吧。

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