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Roy B. of Fort Worth, TX, asks:
I was fortunate enough to have seen Sputnik (the rocket casing) come over my
home in Fort Worth. It was a shattering experience to me at that very
moment. I had yet to see any media hyperbole, but I knew immediately that I
was no longer isolated from the world of the future, now present. It was a
far cry from the government response (of the former head of GM) that it was
only a silly bauble. This, in one stroke made me realize (at age 23) that my
government was either incredibly stupid or lying. I decided on stupid.
Either way, my concept of the American government changed forever. The
legacy is that I, along with, I think, the majority of today's U.S. citizens
have lost faith in their own government. Of course, this was only the
beginning for me. Many other things resulted: beginning of the space age,
questions of technical and ideological supremacy, etc. I would like to know
your ideas on this matter.
Haynes Johnson, journalist and author, responds:
Your point about losing faith with your government because of the launching of Sputnik -- and the response of our officials to it -- is fascinating. This kind of cumulative distrust is, in my opinion, the single greatest problem confronting the U.S. today. The absence of faith and pervasive disbelief makes it exceedingly hard to achieve the kind of national consensus necessary to make the kinds of commitments to solving difficult national and international problems.
There are many reasons why Americans feel increasingly distrustful and disconnected from the government--the legacy of Vietnam, Watergate, assassinations, racial riots, crumbling, dangerous inner cities, poor public service facilities, and a record of lying from the White House, Congress, and the Pentagon over recent decades. But I do not agree with you that Sputnik was a contributing factor. If anything, the shock of believing us to be "behind" the Russians in space spurred the U.S. to its greatest scientific and technological successes within a matter of a couple of years--a position it has not held, but vastly expanded since.
Dr. Keith Benson of the History of Science Society responds:
While I was too young (9) at the time for the experience to lead
me toward disillusionment, my first visit to Russia many years later led
me to believe that the American government has been less than candid with
its citizens about the extent of the Soviet threat. As we now know, the
Russians had an impressive satellite delivery system in development as
early as 1957. What we did not know, and I have no idea if the government
knew this, was that the price the Soviet people paid for this use of their
science was tremendous. In large part, it was the space race and the
following military build-up that led to the economic collapse of the
Soviet system. In many ways, present-day Russia appears to be much closer
to a developing country than an industrialized country. I was extremely
surprised to learn this and to learn how much this was understood by the
Russian people!
Next: What were servicemen told about Sputnik when it was launched?
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