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Starry Nights

Watching stars in the sky has been an activity people around the world have enjoyed largely unfretted for all long as there have been people. That will likely change soon with a man-made shiny object crowding out smaller things like stars. It is an allegory for what is wrong with the world - a few very rich and influential people decide which way society moves and what our priorities must be. I doubt anyone mentioned in the cast of characters who have the means to pin shiny things in the sky and cause global vision pollution, have the education, enlightenment or edification of the poor huddled masses. 

They are interested in commerce facilitated by connectivity and access. All the buyer has to do is see a picture of the thing they want and push a button - nothing beyond a 3rd grade education is needed to accomplish, By then most children can count to as much as they need to understand what something costs. Infact, its best that stay around that level so they can become buying bots. Why bother to educate them to the point they start worrying about the consumption footprint, sustainability and such other nonsense that can come in the way of them hitting the buy button. 

These satellites are an appropriation of a public good. Space doesn’t belong to anyone; it belongs to everyone. And it has been that way as long as we’ve existed.

Allowing Musk, Bezos, AST, and the rest of these companies to literally invade our only view of the universe with tens of thousands of satellites and giant antennas ignores a source of pollution that blinds our view of the cosmos.

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