As cultures become more technologically advanced, the greater the level of competency is required to maintain their systems. The necessary level of competency to manage a tribal group or a traditional nomad community is very low compared to a modern urban capital like London.
I define competency as an effective use of education along with a moral desire to produce an acceptable and consistent quality of work.
Competency builds trust and enables people to confidently rely on the labours of others. A system without competent workers will quickly trend towards egotistical behaviours, where they are boasting about their own inadequate work and undermine that of their coworkers. Deprioritising the needs of the organisation and preferring tactics which maintain their position and survival in the company.
Due to the complex challenges of colonising Mars, a high level of competency would be required to meet the daily needs of the community. One major mistake, and it could spell the end for everyone. If a wall wasn’t sealed properly, or oxygen levels weren’t monitored correctly, then the lifespan of the colony would be cut short.
Equally, on Earth today, competency is still an essential requirement to ensure the systems do not fail. If other characteristics were chosen over competency, then in the worst case scenario, it could result in the demise of a company or at least create drag on the growth and development of the business.
One of the pillars of Anglo-Futurism is competency. If we desire to go to the stars and enter a realm as hostile as outer space or colonise extra-terrestrial worlds, then competency must be the highest priority. It’s not enough to have a piece of paper proving academic qualifications, there needs to be a track record of making the moral choice of producing good quality and consistent work. Not just in a person’s work life, but their private life too.
A colonist doesn’t simply ‘clock off’ at sunset on Mars, but has to be ready to support the community 24 hours 37 minutes a day (length of a Martian Day).
If we want to see colonisation, we need to cultivate this attitude in our modern culture today. Acting as a good citizen, isn’t just about making the right choices at work, but about trying to make the right choices all the time. We will make mistakes, but the key is to always aim at being competent.
Life on Mars or living in a Moon base will be tough, and consequently, it will require highly competent people to maintain the colony. Without them, any off-Earth project will ultimately fail.
By encouraging a culture of competency in our Modern societies, it will lay the foundations for a competent civilisation, which will build towards future successful extra-terrestrial colonisation missions.
Sadly, the competence level is dropping at an alarming rate. We no longer have people who are proficient in doing the math required to build a skyscraper, much less the competence required to build one. Heck, in the States, there isn't even enough competency to make the rails that can handle a load without derailing a train. Nor do we apparently have the competence in the Navy to build a pier. Or for Boeing to build a transfer capsule.
If we can't even fix the city water mains, what hope do we have of living in space?
Until we bring back merit-based outcomes, we can't hope to improve. We can't hire a person to do a technical and complicated job just because of his skin color.