In the following article, read how microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is donating a portion of his gazillions to the search for ET:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/165440_seti19.html
In the 21st century life on this planet often seems to be taking a back seat to science fiction among the leisure class. Compare this story to the news 100 years ago, when our richest including men like Andrew Carnegie were donating their time and fortunes to causes like building public libraries and solving poverty.
Now I don't mean to pick on Paul Allen. The problem started with the Reagan Revolution, which convinced the middle and upper- class in this country that they owe the rest of society and the world nothing for their success. This, despite the fact that America's wealth and success in the 20th century was built through such public investments as mass education, infrastructure, and great campaigns to redeem the nation like abolition and civil rights.
I also don't mean to blame utopian science research for this shift. It would be wonderful if the planet could pull together to undertake such lofty goals as searching for ET, as opposed to spending $87 billion for another needless war to protect us against what turns out to have been an imagined threat. And we were listening for life on mars 100 years ago as well.
But given the sad realities, shouldn't people like Paul Allen take their science fiction goggles off once in awhile and focus their limited resources on protecting and improving human life here on earth?
In that spirit, I juxtapose the following link to the story about Paul Allen:
http://www.starvation.net/