SPUTNIK 2021: CHINA LAUNCHES HYPERSONIC NUCLEAR WEAPON FROM SPACE WHILE PENTAGON ORDERS CHINESE TAKEOUT
Vol. I | Issue. 37 | October 18, 2021
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial earth satellite. It was launched on October 4, 1957, by the Soviets into an elliptical low earth orbit. Sputnik orbited the earth for three weeks until its batteries died, then it fell to earth two months later after the physics of its natural orbit ended on January 4, 1958. It is unlikely that any other object so small has ever had a greater impact on the American psyche either before or since.
In 1957, during the second Eisenhower term, America was a nation and culture that was both conflicted and at peace with itself.
On the surface, giddy consumerism gave Americans not only a chicken in every pot, as Roosevelt had promised during the depression, but at least one car in every garage, a TV in every living room, and a transistor radio in the hands of every American teenager so that they could listen to the croonings of Elvis the pelvis, and watch him on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Although, beneath this frivolous and halcyon exterior, America and Americans were deeply divided and concerned. The immediate post-WWII and Korean War era had wrought terrifying fear amongst the citizenry that Soviet and Chinese Communists increasingly posed an existential threat to the United States. There was, however, a tacit consensus at the time that the US was vastly advanced to the Soviets, and certainly the Chinese regarding technology.
The Rosenberg and Alger Hiss Cases had conveyed to the American public that the communists could only acquire advanced technology through espionage and theft, not through their homegrown backwater primitive scientific research.
Then came Sputnick 1 and that shattered those illusions…
In 1957, the idea of a space race was in its incipient form. However, the fantasy of "outer space" had been firmly planted in the American psyche for decades. Orson Welles in his “War of the Worlds” created terror on Oct. 30, 1938, when its radio staged attacks leading to national trauma, including a number of suicides. Young boys who used to play with the idea of fighting creatures from "outer space" with 15 cent plastic ray guns, were now terrified that the Communists might bring their playful fantasies to lethal fruition and, this time, the dime store weapons might not protect them.
In short, Sputnick rocked America even more than Elvis’s latest top-of-the-charts jingle.
America was terrified… But unlike now, our terrified and justifiable paranoia spurred us to action. The space race was on, and we were determined to win. Once the terror of Sputnick set in, our scientific, military, and educational establishments formed an unofficial consensus to run and win the space race.
During the first two years after the Sputnick launch, enrollment in Science and Engineering higher education doubled. America’s accelerated research and development efforts led to the launch of its first orbiting satellite, Explorer 1, on January 21, 1958, and the rest is history. After recovering from the shock of Sputnick, our priority to run and win that race led to JFK's ambitiously fantastic goal to land a man on the moon before the close of the 1960s came to fruition.
Sadly, The America of 2021 is not the America of 1957…
The perils of our existential competition with China are exponentially more challenging than those that we faced in our Cold War with the Soviet Union. The reasons are clear, the Soviet Union at the peak of its power was a military giant, but an economic dwarf. China is a double threat; preeminent in both its economic power and military might.
In August 2021, when the Pentagon was negotiating with its new Taliban ”partners” in making their ignominious exit from Afghanistan, the Chinese successfully tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile that apparently "caught US Intelligence by surprise". This development changes the strategic balance of power, not only in the region but with the entire geopolitical equation.
It appears that the White House, Pentagon, and our intelligence community are surprised by just about anything and everything that matters. This was the second major surprise of August 2021 that we know of. Remember when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mark Miley stated that “Nobody could have expected that the Afghan Army would fall in 11 days.”?
Unlike the rallying fears that caused Americans to leap forward and win the space race, the only thing most Americans seem to have on their minds related to the Chinese is keeping up with recent TikTok videos.
The American Pravda and its allies in The Democrat Industrial Complex neither signal, report, or lead in any direction that would indicate the gravity of the existential threat that China poses to the United States. They don’t seem to know, or if they do, clearly don’t care.
It's time to wake up and realize that this isn’t 1959 and that Elvis has left the building... We assumed in 1957 that the Soviets were far behind us, then for a terrifying moment in time, they weren’t.
In 2021, we don’t have a moment… China is here knocking on our door and they won’t be delivering Chinese Takeout.
Joe, Put down your chopsticks and get to work.
-Emes