"I wish to address the most important policy question of the millennium: Should we build a Death Star?" Yes, I realize this Washington Post piece by Gregory Koger is big fat pile of flaming linkbait, but at least it's not a 12-page slide show or a top ten list. His economic excercise is inspired by an estimate made by students at Lehigh University that "just the steel for a Death Star would cost $852 quadrillion, or 13,000 times the current GDP of the Earth." (thanks, Jason Weisberger)

  • oldtaku

    But if the United States does not build a Death Star the enemies of freedom will build one first!

  • http://www.matthewpetty.com/ Matthew Petty

    Apart from the difficulty of building one, what is the advantage of a Death Star? Are they as effective as all that?

  • http://www.theblacklaser.net/ Joe The Wizard

    I think the real question we should be asking is not IF we should be building a Death Star, but WHY HAVEN’T WE BUILT ONE ALREADY?!

  • penguinchris

    I dunno about a Death Star, but I do think maybe we could use a massive engineering and construction project, or several of them. 

    Something that would provide me and other un/under-employed scientists and engineers with jobs, massive boosts to the economy, and scientific breakthroughs that will shape the decades to come. Like the space race, but not within the context of a cold war – long-term investment and scientific progress for its own sake and for the overall betterment of humanity.

    Preferably these types of mega-projects should not be related to “defense” so Death Stars are probably right out :)

    • ookluh

       A thoughtful comment in a blog post about actually building a Death Star?  Today is gonna be weird.

  • DoubleTee

    Maybe build just a decoy blow-up inflatable version out of asteroid minerals?  Or just a lift-and-jack from the far side of the moon?

  • Salty T

    Not building the Death Star means the terrorists win. 

  • http://twitter.com/cacarr cacarr

    If we outlaw Death Stars, only outlaws will have Death Stars.

    • niktemadur

      In Soviet Russia, Death Stars outlaw YOU!

  • Mantissa128

    Well, asteroid mining’s at the blueprint stage, now all we need is droid factories and we are set!

  • http://burntheflag.ca Jardine

    If you can get past the “rugged individualist conquers all” politics, John Ringo’s Troy Rising series has some pretty good descriptions of building a large battlestation mostly using a bunch of mirrors, the sun, and asteroids.

  • stretchoutandwait

     amateurs. you don’t build death stars out of steel! – A steam punk death star maybe, But who ever built a steam punk death star on their first attempt, when you don’t even have a functioning death star fleet.
    Stupid humans, I really worry about you sometimes.

  • http://twitter.com/smknghrtdesigns SmokingHeartDesigns

    We need an oversized B-36.  With H.R. Puf ‘n’ Stuf on the side.

  • bzishi

    Why should we only build one Death Star? What if it needs maintenance but we still need to blow up some planets?

  • http://twitter.com/cllrspackman Roger Spackman

    I understand that Sirco and Haliburton are already putting in bids to run catering.  I am not sure what organisation the Garbage Compacter monster is currently employed by.

    • Guest

       TSA

  • ddh819

    isn’t that what all the mars business is about?