Andrew Carmouche

5 June 2001

Audio/Video: Excerpt of Andrei Codrescu’s commentary on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered 5-30-01, and video background of Dennis Tito in a space simulator.

Summary of Commentary: Mr. Codrescu envisions a bleak future for the earth; rich people are given license to pollute and destroy the earth, all the more reason to live in space if you can afford the ticket, and poor people are left with a crumbling rock.

State of the Future: Relates to primary objectives 1A) apocalyptic - Earth is slowly destroyed. 1C) alternative - Codrescu believes that rich people will destroy the Earth and they will be the chosen ones to populate space.

Dimension of the Future: Pre-apocalyptic account of the near future; for the chosen ones, a utopian and ecotopian society; for the commoners, a dystopian world without an evolutionary element.

Space Tourism; All Things Considered; May 30, 2001

Interview with Dennis Tito

 Discussion Questions: Is Codrescu’s viewpoint a paranoid one or is what he describes a possibility? Do you think inhabiting space is a real possibility? If so, are only rich people qualified?