Postcard

The Challenge I think societies are like individuals We grow when we challenge ourselves We stagnate when we do not The humans to Mars program would be a Tremendously bracing challenge for our society It would be tremendously productive, particularly among youth Humans to Mars program would say to every kid in school today learn your science and you could be an explorer of a new world The intellectual capital from that would enormously benefit us It would dwarf the cost of the program Skimming thin atmosphere when I realize Everything I've ever wanted is sitting right before my eyes Landing safely isn't likely, so let's emphasize I'd choose to live forever sooner than I'd choose to stay alive The gravity of the situation is literal But you don't see me shivering or looking pitiful I am the solitary force moving mankind onward Some call me visionary, adversaries looking awkward How 'bout now, you see my vision coming true Nearly fifteen minutes till an answers coming through We see you've landed now, so what else you gonna do Whatever the hell I want, my name is Hübris, man, I thought you knew And just like that I'm on the surface You're welcome 7 billion earthlings for this service And your opinion of me changes from psychotic kamikaze To one small step for a man, one giant leap for everybody Mars is the closest planet, that has on it all the resources Needed to support life, and therefore civilization If we do what we can do, in our time, to establish that Little Plymouth Rock settlement on mars, then Five hundred years from now, there'll be new branches Of human civilization on Mars, and I believe Throughout nearby interstellar space This mission's been a successful endeavor And to make it official, I've gone and done something clever Given myself an address with Mars at the end Sent you a postcard, you know, something to show your friends As you pass it around you can let it sink in That your return address now needs the word 'Earth' in it Commonalities achieved, division nullified So if I sound at ease, it's because I'm satisfied A celebration lyric is in order let me see Now how on Earth will you live up to me I am a Martian, marchin' mankind forward You're perched behind podiums, putting walls on borders You'll never know what you got until it's gone So you'd better hold her hand while I sing this song Remember, nothing lasts forever as a caldera bro You'd better fear what's sleeping under Yellowstone "I ask any American, 'what happened in 1492 They'll tell me 'well, Columbus sailed in 1492 And that is correct, he did But that's not the only thing that happened in 1492 In 1492 England and France signed a peace treaty In 1492 the Borgias took over the papacy A lot of things happened If there had been newspapers Those would have been the headlines Not this Italian weaver's son Taking a bunch of ships and sailing off to nowhere Five hundred years from now People are not going to remember who came out on top in Iraq They will remember what we do to make their civilization possible So, this is the most important thing we could do The most important thing we could do in this time, and If you have it in your power to do something great, and Important and wonderful, then you should