UFOs: Exo-Politics: on the D-List

Exo-politics:

Exopolitics is a non-academic discipline that deals with the implications of possible contact between humans and extraterrestrial civilizations. In a broader context exopolitics deals with the political implications of purported extraterrestrial-related phenomena. Critical questions include what, if any, political framework might be established between human beings and extraterrestrials. (Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia

Exo-politics is on the D- List for some UFO researchers; the poseurs to UFO research and genuine UFO researchers alike. The question is, why? What is the issue they have with exo-politics?

It’s bizarre to think we can research and investigate -- move towards the Big UFO Answer -- while at the same time utterly ignoring the idea of actually meeting with extraterrestrials.

Let’s suppose the world wakes up tomorrow to find that ETs are here. There is no longer any doubt at all, no room for debate. They’re here. Now what?

Well, since exo-politics is nonsense, according to some UFOlogists of all variations, as well as those ‘New Thugs’ (pretenders) no one much knows. We’ll have a mess. We’ll be scrambling around to find our way, which seems incompetent. It surely couldn’t make us look good in ETs eyes. “Sigh,” they’ll say. “Told you they were nothing but stupid, hairless monkeys.” Which will either cause them to be disappointed in us, and we’ll lose out on technology and other wondrous things, or at least, experiencing the thrall of interacting with aliens from outer space. Either that, or it will make it easier for them to eat us for lunch.

As silly as the discussions about exo-politics can get at times, and, as vapid as some at the front of the exo-politics movement seem to be, it is vital we discuss exo-politics seriously. Instead of bashing Exo-politics, those who would deride need to approach the topic positively. It's expected to criticize theories and philosophies of Exo-politics. Certainly all of UFOology is full of criticism. But it’s another thing to dismiss exo-politics itself just because it’s exo-politics.

The point could be made that exopolitics is a wasted and nonproductive effort, since we don’t know what we might face. There’s no guarantee that all the thinking of, and planning for the arrival of ET -- or, ETs -- will prepare us for anything. How can we predict such a thing in the face of the terribly new and unknown?

At worst, thinking about exo-politics is a benevolent and well meaning waste of time, idle speculation on a huge ‘what if.’ At best, it will prepare us for the future, if at least, a little bit. It’s probably the small but persistent imp of the optimist in me (even as it fights daily with the realist within) but it’s better to hold the latter opinion.

Ignoring exopolitics is naive, even while being arrogant.

If the aliens were to land all over the planet tomorrow, or next month, or next year, or on my birthday, I’d like to know that those who like to tell the rest of us how they’re “UFO researchers” have been actually working at things UFO -ish, which includes how to deal with the incredible overwhelming reality of confronting aliens from outer space. Instead of snickering at what they’ve determined, out of inflated intellectual superiority, how useless exo-politics is, a better plan would be to have a plan.

Recommended Reading:

Walking A Tightrope, by Richard M. Dolan

Exopolitics or Xenopolitics? by Steven M. Greer M.D., Director, the Disclosure Project

The Day After Contact: Forecasting Reactions to Extraterrestrial Life, by Albert A. Harrison, PhD. and Colm A. Kelleher, PhD., NIDS

Exopolitics versus Exospin: A Response to Dr. Steven Greer, by Michael E. Salla, PhD.