James Cameron reveals Miner Avatar

A recent article in TIME features a start-up venture Planetary Resources Inc. that is backed by stalwarts such as director James Cameron and co-founder, CEO of Google Larry Page among others. Planetary Resources Inc. was in the news because they

I think TIME is asking the wrong question. Of course they can! It is just a matter of 'time' before the right technology is developed that will make this a reality, especially when so many bright minds are devoted to the cause. We take so much for granted in our modern lives. Who would have thought humans could fly like the birds or effortlessly talk to people sitting millions of miles away or travel in trains that travel on magnetic levitation and go faster than Formula One cars? Or for that matter build national economies on stuff that does not grow/ is not found in the country. There are countless examples of this. For starters, think Espresso, Americano, Machiato, Cappuccino, Latte, Doppio, Fredo and the entire Italian coffee culture that people swear by. Rather surprising considering that coffee does not grow in Italy or for that matter many other places where it is such a normal part of life. So coming back to the article, 'Can they?', I believe yes they can. 

But I'd like to pose another question. Should they? One part of me feels 'why not?'. It would certainly make life much easier for us if they find more resources. We can continue sipping our coffees and postulating about 'the ills of population growth'. I must confess though, there is another part of me that feels uneasy about this whole thing. Not because of a hidden Luddite streak in me but because it feels like we're abandoning the mess on Earth so that we can find greener pastures. Far fetched though it may be, it seems to me an extension of our use-and-throw culture. Easier to buy a new thing than mend the old. Easier to find a new relationship in our lives than make the existing one work. In my view, the statement 'We're going to bring the solar system within our economic sphere of influence' smacks of hubris. It reminds me of Parker Selfridge, the character from Avatar who points at the little rock of unobtainium and says ' This is why we're here. Because this little grey rock sells for $20 million a kilo. That is the only reason. This is what pays for the whole party, and it's what pays for your science.'

The idealist part of me feels disappointed that someone like James Cameron would be part of a mining venture. I'm sure the indigenous tribes that looked to him for solace would share my sentiments. The pragmatic part of me would probably just shrug and quote Sherlock (in his new avatar).'Don't make people into heroes John: heroes don't exist, and if they did I wouldn't be one of them.' There is another comment  on the Planetary Resources Inc. Website that gets my attention though. That of Larry Page.'Planetary Resources is definitely a great example of 'Having a healthy disregard for the impossible.'' I like that attitude. Mr.Larry Page, might I also suggest you fund a project that aims at ending global hunger? or one that aims at mining the gazzilion plastic trash particles that are choking our oceans and baby birds and turn it into something useful? or one that stops horrors such as this?

Speaking for myself, I'd like to adopt that worldview and encourage you to do so too. Why should we accept so many ills of the world as a given? Why should striving for an ideal world be dismissed as Utopian? I think 'a healthy disregard for the impossible' is warranted even in such matters. I recall one of my classes with Prof. Daanish Mustafa where he challenged us with a quote that I will not forget easily. 'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.' - Mark Fisher. True. Certainly is. So I'd like to imagine a world where sustainable consumption is the order. Where systems create products that respect Mother Nature. Where humans realize that we are not the world, merely one part of it, where we are humble enough to recognize and not take for granted the many things Nature gives us for free. I'd like  to leave you with one of my favourite videos. It is a bit dated but it couldn't be truer today.