WHIP INFLATION NOW!

Shot:

In 1964, the first heroic period of the Space Age was just opening; the United States had set the Moon as its target, and once that decision had been made, the ultimate conquest of the other planets, appeared inevitable. By 2001, it seemed quite reasonable that there would be giant space-stations in orbit round the Earth and—a little later—manned expeditions to the planets. In an ideal world, that would have been possible: the Vietnam War would have paid for everything that Stanley Kubrick showed on the Cinerama screen.

—Excerpt from Arthur C. Clarke’s 1982 epilogue to his 1968 novelization of 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

Chaser:

Just think, we could have built two miles of high speed rail for what this is going to cost us

— SwiftOnSecurity (@SwiftOnSecurity) February 28, 2026

(Classical reference in headline.)