hansolo
Regardless of the reality of what happened, the increased scrutiny and surveillance pushed a lot of people to distrust of institutions, just like you.
That sentiment was actually ramping up quite a bit in the 90s, and the way the factors that led to the mistrust never went away, but we were given a Faustian deal to ignore them or be labeled a traitor made it all worse.
Same.
There’s a song by the Armenian band Ladaniva that’s just a few lines about a mountain home with a table that sits under a fig tree for the season. It’s relatively vague imagery with beautiful haunting vocals. Makes me ugly weep every time. No idea why. It’s the only song that has ever affected me like that. But there’s something about the idea of just a homey, simple life and how gar away that is that makes it seem all the more important.
Just a civilian guess, but 2 or 3 Delta V or Falcon Heavy to put 1 payload into LEO with a command module and lander, then 1 booster with fuel. Short of using prototype lander, fabrication would take months at best. Then a Starship or SLS to get a crew, food, and water into orbit.
It’s not even that.
The technology never, ever works as well as it’s hyped. It’s a sales ploy, not a feature.
The purpose is always data collection, and the data is always leaked.
Vulnerabilities and the progression of tech make these kinds of bells and whistles age out of practical use faster, costing the consumer more over the long run.
F this kind of noise in particular, this is not progress.
Well, there’s always me after 3 whiskeys.