The achievement doesn't belong to the world. It doesn't belong to Americans either.
It belongs to the people who actually goddamn contributed to the project. The people who coded it, who built it, who put in the hard effort. Yes, American people funded it, via taxes, but they didn't actually pick to fund it, their government decided it was a good idea. A random person in the states flipping burgers is no more responsible for NASA's achievements than someone flipping burgers in France, or in China, or in Ireland.
I don't say this to be negative, or to put a downer on this fantastic event: I was watching the live-stream with my heart in my mouth, and it's an amazing achievement.
But, if we're going to bring this kind of thing up, I felt like I might as well voice my criticism of this 'couch-achieving' that seems to be to popular.
My country (NZ) currently has the most gold medals in the Olympics of any nation on Earth... provided to measure them per capita. Some people are proud of this achievement. That's fair, you could argue that some of a countries success in the games are based around the logistics of simply sourcing good people, and so the more people you have the better your chances. What doesn't make sense is when people I know talk as if they themselves achieved something.
Sorry if this is a rant, but I really wish people would just be proud of whgat they themselves have achieved, and be proud of other people when they achieve great things, instead of trying to live through other people.
I prefer the view that this achievement does belong to the world.
I work in the oil and gas industry. We supply the world with energy, it gets used up about as quickly as it gets produced. In a sense, I will have nothing concrete to show for my work say 30 years from now... apart for the fact that the world continued to function. Same goes for farmers, dentists, parking attendants and in fact for the vast majority of professions.
The people who product the truly lasting products are scientists (and arguably artists, politicians and lawyers... but science is special because it is so consistently worthwhile). But I do feel a part of society's successes, I was one of those millions of little cogs that are a part of the whole machine.
I imagine this is just an unresolvable difference of opinion, but I don't believe in taking credit (any credit) for things I didn't actively take part in.
The sum contribution of your average American citizen to NASA's amazing success was to fulfil their legal obligation to pay tax. Congratulations, you didn't break the law :-P
My country has a fairly decent healthcare system, funded by taxes, including my own. It would be idiotic for me to somehow claim credit for this healthcare system, simply because I didn't actively take part in tax evasion. I can take a tiny bit credit for our ambulances though, because I actively and voluntarily donate my money to help keep them running, but even then any credit is minuscule to the point of not being worth mentioning (except to contrast the previous example).
It belongs to the people who actually goddamn contributed to the project. The people who coded it, who built it, who put in the hard effort. Yes, American people funded it, via taxes, but they didn't actually pick to fund it, their government decided it was a good idea. A random person in the states flipping burgers is no more responsible for NASA's achievements than someone flipping burgers in France, or in China, or in Ireland.
I don't say this to be negative, or to put a downer on this fantastic event: I was watching the live-stream with my heart in my mouth, and it's an amazing achievement.
But, if we're going to bring this kind of thing up, I felt like I might as well voice my criticism of this 'couch-achieving' that seems to be to popular.
My country (NZ) currently has the most gold medals in the Olympics of any nation on Earth... provided to measure them per capita. Some people are proud of this achievement. That's fair, you could argue that some of a countries success in the games are based around the logistics of simply sourcing good people, and so the more people you have the better your chances. What doesn't make sense is when people I know talk as if they themselves achieved something.
Sorry if this is a rant, but I really wish people would just be proud of whgat they themselves have achieved, and be proud of other people when they achieve great things, instead of trying to live through other people.