I remember frantically mowing lawns and collecting old coke bottles so
I could replace the 2 bad tubes on our old B&W TV set so I could watch
the moon landing. I was 13 and had just been with a scout group to
Titusville, FL to watch Apollo 11 take off and I had models of the
Saturn V and LEM and could quote facts and stats on the Saturn V. It
was reasonable to expect that when I was older I would be exploring
the moons of Jupiter and I really looked forward to the future.

Fast Forward to 2009

Aint it depressing how far we have fallen?

For awhile, I thought NASAs post Apollo ineptitude was something
brought on by the Viet nam defeat and they would get over it and I
told my kids that I expected they would be able to explore lava tubes
on the moon but I would be too old to do so. Now, even that vision
for my kids has faded and on nights on the sailboat when we look up to
the stars and they ask "Dad, Why don't we go to the moon anymore?",
all I can do is get a lump of sadness in my throat and mumble
something about bureaucrats.
Our kids have little hope and encouragement for the future and all the
excitement they can look forward to is shoot-em up video games and
drive by shootings for thrills. Every society needs an outlet for the
drive to explore and we have willingly given it up and have lost our
souls in the process. The voice that said "JOHNNY, get down from that
tree fort, it's too high and unsafe and you might get hurt" is the
voice that says to us when we get older, "You have a family and
responsibilities now, why would you give up a good job shuffling
papers for something uncertain even if you have always wanted it" is
also the voice that says "NASA, dont you dare think about going to the
stars when we have ANY unsolved problems here". When you give in to
these voices and no longer explore, you are a dead man who simply goes
through the motions of being alive.
The ineptitude of NASA seems to not be just a case of post Viet Nam
caution but has become something much darker and seems to be an effort
to keep anybody from doing space exploration. In every case where
somebody has gotten to the point of achieving private spaceflight
(Kistler, Beall, Conestoga, etc) NASA either coopts and kills the
effort or announces an new initiative in direct competition with the
private effort. One could almost believe in conspiracy. I am willing
to bet that NASA does all it can to kill SpaceX after its recent
successful launch.
If there is any hope, it will not be found in the labrynthine
bureaucracy of NASA but in the minds of entrepreneurs willing to take
risks. Anybody with any remaining hope for the future will do all
they can to keep NASA and the govt off the backs of space
entrepreneurs.