People aren't supporting Moon Plan

> Liken it to a man planning for his future. If he continues to spend on all
> the little things, like beer and nintendo and a nice car that he replaces
> every two years, he will find, in the end, that the enrichment he fancied
> himself achieving only led to opportunities lost.

Just to play devil's advocate on this...

Actually, he got the beer, nintendo, and showoff transport (which equals
sex or security or fun if you believe the advertisers) for most of his
active life. Whereas had he deferred gratification, chances are someone
smarter, richer, meaner, or luckier than him will have gotten his nest
egg in the end and he'll end up having deferred gratification for
nothing. Also, he may well die young and then what will have deferrign
got him. For example, this is sort of how I feel about the regressive
FICA tax pyramid scheme I have been forced to pay, which otherwise
(doubled for employer contributions) would leave me able to donate more
money to what I think are good causes right now which might really lead
to a good future for everyone.

The line of reasoning behind deferred gratification only works when one
can have a certain level of faith in the economic system and one's
ability to navigate it succesfully (and that such effort is required).
For a counterpoint on who the whole economic system is messed up, see
for one example:
http://www.urbansurvival.com/
One big problem is, that when the world is changing at an ever faster
rate, it is hard to make any reasonable future projections.
http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0134.html?printable=1

Having said that, I do think the notion of "investment" made by
communities is often a good idea (although of course this is what has
led to non-western nations being deeply in debt with half finished dams
they don't have a use for anyway and dictators-in-exile with fat Swiss
bank accounts).

Still, lest the above be taken as license for debauchery or failure to
plan at all, I think simplicity and thrift for its own sake, and for the
immediate freedom and flexibility it provides, makes a lot of sense, as
do the purchase or construction of quality artifacts appropriate for
meeting humane needs. When you spend less on beer, nintendo, and
transport, that allows you to spend more on potentially more interesting
hobbies, as well as work less so you have time to enjoy them. The issue
is taking a long hard look at beer, nintendo, and transport etc. and
deciding what your values are. This can result in deferred
gratification, but it can also result in making different immediate
purchasing or time choices (e.g. drinking purified water, socializing,
and living in a city without a car).

Hunter and gatherer societies had a different way of looking at this --
if the world is abundant (relative to a population), and you are
knowledgeable to recognize abundance (say, knowing what insects or roots
are good eating), then you can have faith that the world will always
provide without needing to store things up (well, maybe some for winter
in extreme climates). Part of the problem is simply a need to use more
efficient technology to again create vast abundance for billions of
people (e.g. dirt-cheap local PV). See for example another site on
revising our story about ourselves to make the world a better place:
http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/stories/2003/02/15/howToSaveTheWorld.html

> Surely as he takes stock of
> his situation, he will see how much further ahead he would find himself if
> only he had kept focus and sacrificed the small pleasures. I think he would
> find his wealth on a grand scale capable of far more if only he had
> invested...

He might get further ahead if he turns off broadcast TV, certainly,
since much advertising rots the brain. :-) But, as they say, the best
things in life are free (or at least, cheap).
http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/tvturnoff/
Somewhere in here is a balance (see for example the movie "Scrooged").
I think the fundamental issue in modern society is that most jobs are so
stressful and/or dull and/or demeaning in some way that people feel they
need various expensive techno pleasures (e.g. latest nintendo) as
virtual drugs or alternate reality escapes to make it through to another
day. Thus the wage slave slides deeper and deeper into debt...

> Here we find ourselves with an opportunity... Should we squander it, or get
> behind it knowing that all our dreams have far more chance of realization if
> we delay the small pleasures and lend our efforts to the greater cause.

I think what we may have to do is find a way to make space technology
development intrinsically fun -- more fun than watching Star Trek and B5
and even kibittizing on this list. OSCOMAK (or the ideas behind it
presented by me at the last SSI conference) was a step in that way,
although it has a long ways to go.
http://www.kurtz-fernhout.com/oscomak/index.htm
I've spent a long time thinking about how to get self-replicating space
habitats for on the cheap as far as up-front cash (not having much in
proportion to the total size of the effort ultimately required). Still
haven't succeeded in makign it fun enough though.

--Paul Fernhout