We in the United States believe that we have the world's highest
standard of living. Our current wealth, prosperity, consumer goods and
gross national product are at a peak hitherto unreached by any country.
Nevertheless, economists who see the steady preponderant outflow of
goods and capital from the United States and who study the rising rate
of economic capability in other countries can find little room for
complacence in the present status of things. They are also well aware of
the Soviet Union's announced intent of beating the United States at its
own game: economic expansion.
Military historians are likewise aware that even strong economies, when
they become static, do not guarantee safety. On the contrary, they seem
likely to induce a dangerous national apathy.
This syndrome is familiar in history. Carthage suffered from it.
Carthage enjoyed enormous prosperity and was flourishing when she
was destroyed by her Roman competitor. Much later, Rome had a gross
national product without precedence. Her wealth and splendor were
unsurpassed when the Vandals and Visigoths began their onslaughts.
Neither Rome's great engineering skills, its architectural
grandeur, its great laws, nor, in the last analysis, its gross
national product, could prevail against the barbarians. Their GNP
was negligible; nevertheless they ransacked the mighty Roman
Empire.
The gross national product is no insurance of survival. It is not a
sign of military strength, and indeed, it may not even be
sufficient for the economic battle.[25]
Thus from the point of view of economic stimulus and continued
commercial dynamism, space exploration should be--and is proving to
be--a godsend.