True, you’ve got a few valid points there.
What I still don’t really understand is the motivation behind all the people signing up for Mars One. What makes them want to live on Mars?
- It’s perhaps just a huge big adventure thing
- Or they are totally fed up with all the nonsense going on on Earth
- Colonizing Mars could give their otherwise more or less boring and meaningless lives a deeper meaning
- Maybe they just secretly harbour a death wish and think dying on Mars would be the best way to die
- Oh, or they could do it just for the lulz. Whatver.
- I’m sure it’s not because they prefer the weather or climate on Mars to that on Earth
The thing about another cold war. Yeah, something like that might happen again with different ideological factions using different modes of economics wanting to prove their superiority by sponsoring projects with very low practical use like colonies on other planets.
Some possible conflicts:
- Nations without universal basic income versus those that have one (the first will probably be authoritarian shitholes by the time the latter rise to significant power – oops, wait, they already are
But probably the effort to finance a Mars colony will completely drive them into ruin. Well, so that’s how they will finally crash and burn, I guess ) - Resource based economy versus reputation based economy.
- Direct democracies vs party despotism like in China
- Nation states vs virtual states