Colonial Living in the 21st Century

There's nothing I like better than a race. And a Space Race is the best race of all.
Oh sure, we already raced to the Moon and won, but that was small potatoes compared to what is at stake this time around. It's not just the U.S. and the Russians competing for preeminence in Space, this time the entire world is competing for a piece of the pie.
Good thing it's a big pie.
Here's a wake-up call from a story by Robert Zimmerman for Space-Travel.com:


We are at the dawn of a new colonial age. The growing space competition between nations is in many ways very reminiscent of the 19th century competition between the European powers to colonize Africa and the South Pacific.
In the 1800s, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom aggressively competed to carve up the undeveloped world. The result was foreign-run colonies controlling most of the Third World, for both good and ill, for almost a century.
Today, a new list of nations - India, China, Japan, Russia, Europe and the United States -- are throwing their resources at space exploration in much the same way.
Their goal, unstated but indisputable, is similar to the colonial powers of the 19th century: to obtain future domination over unclaimed territories in space.



It's not too late for the U.S. to remain on top, or at least competitive. I believe NASA has already take some steps to remedy the situation. I just hope it's not too little, too late.