Since, in the long run, every planetary society will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring — not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive.

Since, in the long run, every planetary society will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring — not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive.

Carl Sagan (via ageofreason)

This is why, for now, I think the human race is doomed.  We seem to be terminally distracted by petty, useless things while our world nears a point where it can no longer support our existence.  Hell, so many people treat the economy like a living creature with a right and a need to exist.  No one ever points out that the economy exists to serve humankind—to help make our lives easier.  So we piss on our planet because using a toilet would cost too much money.

If there was an alternative to Earth, I’d choose it right about now.