Offering Perennial Optimism
By Andy Valencia
f you’ve been a voter in Washington for more than a few years, you have seen a candidate calling himself “Goodspaceguy.” In fact, if you’ve lived here 10 years, or 20, or 30, or even 40 – you’ve been seeing him on your ballot. Since 1980, he’s run for public office 21 times.
About that name. Born Michael George Nelson, as the internet gained in importance, he found that his name matched far too many people in the search engines, and decided he needed a political “pen name.” Space had always tugged at his imagination, so he tried various space themes and names, most of which still had too many other matches. “Good” and “space” finally came together, and Goodspaceguy was born. Search for him, and you’ll find him.
Although a very long-time Washington resident, Goodspaceguy’s early life exposed him to a wide range of experiences across the globe. After World War II, his father decided to remain in the Army, and brought his whole family out to Germany during the reconstruction. Goodspaceguy attended school in Germany – and still reads and speaks German. He lived in a corner of Germany which hadn’t been bombed, but he certainly saw the after-effects of industrial warfare.
As Goodspaceguy grew up, he eventually attained a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Economics. He joined the Army Reserve, and received training – first as a member of the Military Police, then in an engineering unit, and finally in Military Intelligence. I expected him to look at this as a progression, but he firmly disagreed – learning to be an MP, to do military engineering, or to handle military intelligence were all valuable, and thus all equally interesting.
With his background in business and economics, you might expect him to be a traditional capitalist. And, to a certain extent, he is. Goodspaceguy believes in a “full employment economy,” one where – except for the truly disabled – each and every person works for their living. In his mind, each person sitting at home waiting for the next government check could be doing something to add to the world. It’s a failure of the current system that so many people have trouble finding employment.
Goodspaceguy’s call to public office is rooted in something much deeper than business, economics, and jobs. It goes back to his childhood in postwar Germany. Because of the destruction, the night sky was free of light pollution. There he was, a boy, looking up into the absurdly rich carpet of stars, and he suddenly knew that up there was the human race’s destiny.
Off of Earth’s surface, the blaze of the sun provides virtually unlimited energy. Almost every element, from water to iron, can be found in various orbital belts. The old joke is that they call it “space” because there’s a lot of it. There truly is; in Earth’s orbit alone, we could fit another 73,000 earths. Trail behind Earth in your own solar orbit, and help yourself to as many miles of space as you need.
Unlimited energy, materials, and room. This author’s imagination immediately conjured images of an artist’s colony on the ice rings of Saturn. A water crystal cathedral 1,000 miles in size, periodically emerging from Earth’s shadow to glow in sunlight. Or a space telescope 100,000 miles wide, enabling entirely new areas of astronomy. A particle accelerator as big as a planet.
Goodspacebuy’s campaigns ultimately have a common theme: he wants the powers of government to support the destiny of the human race – to go out into our solar system, and ultimately the stars. In a world where the human dream is increasingly bounded by insect burgers, pharmaceuticals, and video games, his boyhood experiences still call him to reach upward and outward to the biggest frontier of them all.
With another dreary election season upon us, take heart that you can vote for somebody who thinks humans are at the threshold of a brighter future than our race has yet seen. In addition to economics and space, Goodspaceguy also believes that medical innovations are in front of us which can permit 200-year lifespans. In his view, we’re not running out of anything. We’ve barely started.
