Adolf Hitler and the agents of national socialism had learned the doctrine of manifest destiny from reading American history. Von Braun was among the people who started using manifest destiny sort of reigniting that Manifest Destiny language in the 1950s. He thought it was incumbent from a military perspective from a political perspective from an economic perspective and even from a theological perspective to head into outer space where he imagined that the US would convert aliens to Christianity just like the Spaniards had converted indigenous Americans.
Paris Marx is joined by Mary-Jane Rubenstein to discuss how ideas that underpinned colonization and Manifest Destiny are now setting the foundation for the billionaire space race and the plan to colonize the cosmos.
Mary-Jane Rubenstein is the author of Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. She’s also a Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan University.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.
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