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THE VIDEO SHELF · space spending critique

Gil Scott-Heron - Whitey On the Moon (Official Audio)

Gil Scott-Heron's 1970 spoken-word piece, in an official audio upload. It contrasts the Apollo moon program with poverty and neglect at home.

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Why HN readers recommended it

Posted in space-spending threads as a classic critique of priorities, usually with a quip.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel
Ace Records
Topic
space spending critique
Format
music
Level
general
HN recommenders in dataset
3
HN mentions in dataset
20
Recommendation years in dataset
2018–2026

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

  • There's a great Gil Scott Heron song with the same theme. In his case it was poverty and healthcare among African Americans in the 60s, not cancer. [VIDEO]

    rospaya on Hacker News · 2018-07
    In Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars

  • No, the argument is that there's plenty to learn, and it's all very interesting, but it doesn't stand up against people's very real needs here on Earth. I'm about the biggest fan of space you'll find, but even I, sadly, find the ethical calculus unassailable. …

    lordlic on Hacker News · 2021-01
    In One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

  • Is this in some way related to Bezos and Musk's antics? There's a recording on YouTube. Only two minutes, worth a listen: [VIDEO]

    bloak on Hacker News · 2021-07
    In Whitey on the Moon

Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.