We Need to Build a Death Star

I affirm that the United States government should invest in research regarding the construction of a Death Star or a Death Star-like device for the following contentions. 1. Possibility of Hostile Aliens The possibility of aggressive extraterrestrial life is legitimate. If there are truly superior extraterrestrials with hostile intentions, we are practically defenseless as far as space warfare capabilities. Steven Hawking states that," Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach. " [1] He then compares this scenario to instances in human history where a generally technologically superior society comes into contact with a technologically inferior society and proceeds to wipe them out. Take, for examples, the European involvement in Native America and Africa in the 17th to 19th centuries, the Roman invasion of present-day England and massacre of the Druids, the Mongol invasion of Russia, and the raiding of smaller African civilizations during the time of slavery. As further evidence for the hostility of an alien society, Stephanie Papas writes that evolving intelligence and social pressure (as demonstrated on Earth) correlate with evolving aggression. The same may be true for an extraterrestrial race. [2] As previously mentioned, under our current space capabilities, we would practically be defenseless against such superior life forms. Even if we fired explosives and missiles into the atmosphere, our primitive defenses would most likely have a small effect (or none at all) on the assault. Sending soldiers into space to fight also seems out of the question, considering the only humans in space are on the International Space Station and are far from efficient soldiers - even so, the ISS is completely dependent on Earth and is only armed with a gun to be used in case of hostile animals upon return to Earth. In Return of the Jedi, the Death Star was revealed to be capable of destroying entire ships [3]. Should we construct a Death Star or Death Star-like device, we would substantially improve our defensive capabilities. This construction would only be possible if we begin research. 2. Economic Benefits Though this is a much smaller point, it is still significant. According to Wookiepedia, the Second Death Star could hold just short of 2.5 passengers, many of which were workers and guards. [4] We must also take into account the employment opportunities necessary for the Empire to create the Death Star; just as perhaps millions of construction workers built the Death Star for the Empire, thousands and perhaps millions of construction workers may be needed to construct a Death Star or Death Star-like device for the United States. Furthermore, new jobs may be created in science fields for researching how to best construct a device and what it will be specifically armed with; other scientific and research careers would be supported. John Aziz with The Week writes that the construction of a Death Star would have "massive beneficial economic effects for employment, output, science, technology, and so forth. " [5]. 3. If Impossible Now, Beginning Research Would Enable Construction In the Future I can only assume that my opponent will comment on how constructing a Death Star today would be impossible. For the Empire, the construction of the First Death Star cost quadrillions of dollars whereas the United States is trillions in debt and only intends to spend just over $3 trillion per year (and most of this budget is dominated by military spending, medicare, and social security anyway). In Round 1, I made it clear that I will support research and not actual construction. In my previous contentions, I stated the potential benefits a theoretical Death Star or Death Star-like device would yield. The point I am attempting to make is that beginning research today would set us up for our long-term goal of constructing a Death Star only when it is completely possible or absolutely necessary. One of my previous sources, The Week, states that projects we can undergo to get us closer to our goal include a mission to Mars, an upgraded energy particle accelerator, a base on our Moon, etc [5]. SOURCES 1. . http://www.space.com... 2. . http://www.livescience.com... 3. 4. . http://starwars.wikia.com... 5. . http://theweek.com...