Basically, I feel like the theme here does a disservice to all the people who work hard to contribute in small ways, whether in moving forward the boundaries of scientific knowledge or in making future generations happier, healthier, and wealthier. If you're not a Big Name, if you're not "FIRST!!!" then nuts to you. You don't really matter. These people are destined for bigger and better things than you'll ever achieve. Push off, farmer providing for his family. Take a hike, poorly-paid lab-monkey who helped put these colony ships together in the first place. Sit and spin, Common Man.
I'm usually the biggest intellectual elitist around, but this story made me want to go find John Galt and punch him in the face.
That's a very interesting take - it honestly hadn't occured to me. I understood the story very much to the contrary - you have a ship manned by the people who are determined not to be common - they are the people who have the attitude you describe, the ones who are all about being "first". And they lose the race. The ones who were in it for the glory discover that while they were rushing ahead, everyone else, the regular people, overtook them.
They're not arriving to discover a colony sorely in need of assistance. They are arriving to discover a developed world that doesn't need them anymore. Why do you think a ship of several hundred people, with technology that is centuries old, will be helpful to a world of millions?
Now, I admit it's been a while since I heard this story, but I don't think they were putting an "enormous drain" on the colony's resources - they're getting some charity, sure, but I always thought it was just that. A small gesture from a colony that has a lot to spare. Maybe I'm just wrong here, or misremembering, but I really didn't get any sense that the colony was anything but prosperous, and that outfitting one ship was not something that they would think twice of.
The anology I get is if a sailing vessel left from Europe to North America in the 16th century, only to arrive in modern day Boston. I don't think the city will go bankrupt if they outfit their ship with modern sails and riggings.
Edit: (Ok, I relistened and found the part where they say starships are expensive. But still, I didn't get the sense it's an "enormous drain". Just not as insignificant a gesture as I said above. And the story makes it clear that the alternative is that the community will have to basically support the "colonists", since they don't have the skills to function properly in the society. The story says it's cheaper to do that, but the point is, the choice is basically between two ways to be a drain on this society, not between helping and hurting).