I’m sure that many of you have seen the hysterically funny film, Dumb and Dumber, which has firmly set idiocy as a part of the American theatrical lexicon. I wonder if those characters are in fact based on officials at NASA headquarters. First, they decided (due to budgetary reasons) to cancel the Moon program, in favor of the space shuttle, which had never gone anywhere but earth’s orbit. Then, they decided to build a space station 20 years after they built the Space Shuttle. Now, they have decided not to repair the Hubble Telescope, which can arguably be the single most important scientific instrument ever constructed.

I am aghast at the sheer myopic stupidity of NASA: that they could allow this magnificent instrument to just burn up. Their argument centers on the “increased danger” of operating the Shuttle at the high altitude of the Hubble. The reality is that NASA is suffering from the guilt of needlessly burning up two shuttles because of dreadful mismanagement. They are willing to sacrifice this fantastic device, which has allowed us to see the very beginnings of the universe, because of cultural “risk aversion”.

One must ask the question, is America willing to sacrifice her pre-eminence in the sciences because a few bureaucrats are practicing cover-your-assets management? However, this is not the beginning of our dumbing-down as a nation; it is just another nail in the coffin of our collective intelligence. The nation that broke the sound barrier, built one of the largest telescopes in the world during the Great Depression (Mount Palomar), created the nuclear submarine, and landed men on the moon is now failing to maintain an essential eye on the universe.

We live in a time when intellectual achievement is neglected, and the dollar is the only symbol of success. At one time, America was known throughout the world as a nation of inventors, where “big science” worked hand in hand with “big business”. We created the twentieth century and now at the dawn of the twenty-first, we are squandering our intellectual birthright.

America produces less engineers and scientists than any other industrial nation. Our students lag far behind in math and science and overall Americans seem to disdain intellectual pursuits. If you ask a typical seventh grader today what they want to be when they grow up, you will find a large amount of future football players, basketball players and rappers.

I’m not saying that we should all sign up for engineering or science courses, but we should start questioning our values.

If this nation is to remain at the forefront of global politics, it can’t be because we are the only ones with nuclear weapons. We have to become the engine of civilization, willing to take the risks for knowledge; not because we are in it for the money or glory, but because we are shinning the light of knowledge across the globe.

Our ascendance as a world power was based on the shoulders of engineering giants. Our collapse appears to be arranged by intellectual midgets.