Tyree's Tuppence

by Tyree Campbell

People on both sides of the political spectrum probably feel a bit apocalyptic these days.  We all wish others would refrain from goring our oxen.  We have our views and our beliefs--and there's always someone out there, it seems, who not only disagrees with us, but threatens to elect people who will legislate against our views and beliefs.  These days, more so than ever--as witness the political conventions.  To hear all the howling, you'd think it would be Goetterdaemmerung for the right if the left regains power, while the left proclaims the advent of Ragnaroek, should the right continue in power.  And, to borrow shamelessly from Heinlein, Armageddon tired of it.

But for those of us who were nurtured from youth on what truly matters--Outer Space and on dreams of Outer Space--and who share the same longing as Jim Baker, of traveling one day to the stars and beyond, bright moments may well be lurking on the horizon.  To explain this future, I must first take you briefly into the past.

Until about 2400 years ago there were no empires truly worthy of the name.  In their own locales and milieux, the Akkadian, Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian Empires, the Kingdom of the Medes, the Shang Dynasty in China, and the Empires of Asoka and Gupta were powerful enough, but none of them controlled any great territory.  The largest of these was probably that of Asoka, who had effective control of an area of India equal in size to roughly one-sixth of the United States.  This empire lasted as long as Asoka, who passed on to a higher plane in 231 BCE.  One could argue that the Persian Empire was rather larger in scope--but their effective control over their outlying territories was minimal.  The Persians conquered, and collected tribute, but did not establish themselves.  Until about 2400 years ago, then, the "empires" were either teensy-weensy territories like Babylon, or vast, ephemeral swatches of nominal control. 

So what happened 2400 years ago?

Well, yes, around that time Alexander the Great did conquer the "known" world--although he "knew" about Rome, he [prudently] chose to head in a different direction.  But Alexander's Empire, like Asoka's, died with him.

No, what happened 2400 years ago was roads.

Now, we're not talking about oxcart ruts here.  We're not talking about camel trails across Transoxiana.  We're talking cobblestone roads, pavingstone roads.  Roads built so well that, in places, they are still used today.

In 312 BCE, a Roman magistrate named Appius Claudius built what came to be known as the Via Appia, or Appian Way.  [Okay, he didn't do a lick of work himself, except perhaps to sign requisition parchments in triplicate.  He detailed slaves to do the work.  But that's beside the point].  This road connected Rome with Capua, the principal city in southern Italy.  Later on, the Appian Way was extended to Brundisium, a primary port of trade with Greece on the heel of Italy.  In its own way, the Appian Way was as crowded then as Interstate 5 is in California during the rush hour.  Traffic on it was bumper-to-bumper . . . okay, ox-yoke-to-oxcart-tailgate . . . with merchants moving goods, expanding their sales bases, making money.

Roads meant transportation, communication.  Profits.  Development.  More profits. 

And development and profits depended entirely on those roads--on reliable transportation/communication.  Emphasis on the word "reliable."

Well . . . not only did Appius Claudius not actually build the Appian Way himself, he also didn't pay for it himself.  Roman taxes, and other involuntary contributions, such as tribute and war indemnities, paid for it.  In short, the government of Rome paid for it--paid for some 50,000 miles of paved roads.  Not until the 18th Century did a comparable system of roads come into being.

As a consequence of these roads, and of the military power Rome was able to project over these roads, and the commerce that took place between locations connected by these roads, the Roman Empire grew . . . and grew . . . and grew.  Its size dwarfed all previous empires.

Around the year 1200 CE, an empire rule by Manco Capac began to grow from Cuzco in what is now Peru.  For decades it was confined to within twenty five miles or so of Cuzco, but under Pachacuti, who was the Inca from 1438 to 1471, the empire--called Tahuantinsuyu, or Four Quarters of the World--expanded along the Andean littoral to include what is now Quito, Ecuador, in the north, and Santiago, Chile, in the south.  Under Pachacuti, who was probably the greatest of the pre-Columbian rulers in the so-called New World, public works were emphasized--including, you guessed it, roads.  Some 10,000 miles of roads were constructed, with rope bridges to cross the chasms in the Andes.  And along these roads passed couriers with information that enabled Pachacuti to rule and administer this elongated territory.  These roads were safe to travel, for the most part, for brigandage on them was punished to the extreme [you don't want to know][no, really, you don't want to know].  And with the roads, built by the Inca government, came commerce.  Trade.  Profits.  Development.  More profits.

You're beginning to get the picture, right?

To be sure, not all great and vast empires had networks of roads.  The largest empire in human history, that of the Mongols, had no roads--but scarcely needed them, as they were primarily a nomadic people.  On the other hand, the Mongol Empire did not long endure, and eventually was absorbed by the various peoples it had conquered.  And those peoples built roads.  Well, their governments did.

Rome endured because of the commerce its merchants were able to conduct.  Tahuantinsuyu endured [at least until the advent of Pizarro] because of the commerce its merchants were able to conduct.

Moments ago I alluded to a "comparable system of roads."  This refers to the railroads.  Contrary to the dogmatic assertion of Herbert Spencer, the spokesman for classical liberalism, that governments have always obstructed and inhibited growth and have in no way promoted it, economic growth by the 18th Century was dependent on the development of "social capital," which meant government investment and subsidies for, among other things, an efficient transportation system.  Put simply, governments understood that, in order to trade there and exploit resources there, you first have to be able to get there.

Which leads me to the present, and to the future.

Nowadays, the United States government--at the federal, state, and/or local level--is financially responsible for road construction.  It is also financially responsible for quite another sort of road:  the road into space.  Since the beginning of the Space Age [1957, with Sputnik?], government programs in this country and in all other spacefaring countries have paid for space exploration.  True, there have been setbacks and tragedies; but on the whole, as a result of having spent government funds, the various organizations that oversee the development of space travel--NASA, ESA, and the like--have learned much about what must be done to insure human viability in Outer Space.  In other words, we can get there.

But if there is to be a human presence in Outer Space, there must also be an economic reason for it.  As much has been demonstrated on Earth time and again.  Space must hold the clear promise of profit.  Only then will corporations step in and assist with the development--and with the funding.  [Sorry, but that's just the way it is . . . and if this gores your socio-economic ox, get a band-aid].

Well . . . it now appears that someone has caught a glimpse of that "clear promise," because recently there was a privately-funded successful rocket launch into space.

It's exciting, thrilling . . . I wish it would develop just a bit faster, as I'm not getting any younger . . .

We're on the verge, Jim.

Past Tuppence:
June 2004
March 2004
December 2003
September 2003
June 2003
March 2003
December 2002
October 2002
August 2002
June 2002
April 2002
February 2002
December 2001
October 2001
August 2001

Read more from Tyree Campbell in any of the following:

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 4

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 3

Sex and the Single Alien
An anthology

Nyx
A novel by Tyree Campbell

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 2