Have you heard of the overpopulation problem on Earth? Is the solution to go the route China went and have governemnt control our reproduction? Talk about lack of choice. Do we just execute more people, again this involves a great amount of government control over who lives and dies. Do we just let things run their course and deal with the food shortages and the mass poverty? I'm sure the riots will help us get the popultation back under control.
Never heard of the overpopulation problem on Earth. What is it?
I say have government control reproduction. It's a proven fact from Readers Digest, Time Magazine, and a bazillion other sources that Conservatives have too many kids anyway.
So basically, we'll send people to a completely inhabitable planet since Earth can no longer has the food, air, water, space, and other resources to support them? Where exactly will those living on Mars get all of that from? Before one can even live on Mars, they'll need their own habitat invented.
Also, do you know how long it takes to get to Mars? 4 months to nearly 1 year. Realistically, spacecraft will be able to hold a handfull of colonists. In the 4 + months to get to mars, the human population on earth will have increased far more than those migrating to Mars.
If we're going to migrate anyway to a completely inhabitable satellite, lets go to the moon. Why Mars? It's far closer anyway.
Then there's the problem of our existing economic model of infinite expansion. That doesn't work forever here on a single planet, but seems to fit in quite well considering the size of the universe. Again, to solve this problem on earth requires governemnt to force a solution that will not be in everyone's best interests.
Let the invisible hand guide us.
Or we could just go the Star Trek route and eliminate money altogether. But it's a proven fact that 9 out of 10 Gameface's don't believe in Star Trek.
Then there's the problem of differeing religious/cultural views that are causing never-ending tensions throughout the world. If only the people who find the way other people live as unaceptable could go their own way and to their own place.
This is complete and utter nonsense. People don't fight over differing cultures or religions you moron. People fight over musical artists.
There are two types of people in this world. Those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't.
Then there's the less tangible aspect of the human "spirit." Adventure and discovery seem to be beneficial to the human outlook. The idea of the freedom of the frontier.
Less than 10 percent of the ocean has been explored. Maybe we should stick to that. Or maybe we can explore space too. But what the hell will bombing Afghanistan and Iraq do to accomplish that? Why are people dressed up like 18th century patriots when we could be sporting this:
Or this:
Or my personal favorite:
As mentioned, the long-term survival of our species looks a lot better when all our eggs are not in one basket. A meteor, a "super-valcano", nuclear war, etc. could wipe us out and end what as far as we know is the only intelligent life in the Universe.
This whole ridiculous argument is based upon the fallacy that what we have on this planet can be classified as intelligent life.
This is highly subjective and varies upon the opinions given to us by other forms of life throughout the universe.
There's a lot of learning to do. Learning how the best way to travel from planet to planet. Learning how to survive on other planets. Learning how to get resources from one planet to another. These are all things we can take baby steps on because we've got the moon to act as our training wheels for our earliest endevors into space and Mars as a near-by target for our first attempts at actually living on another world. It is almost too good to be true, yet we question the value of even gaining the experience.
Meh.
I'd rather watch the Jazz kick the Lakers ***.
Besides, how do you know that martians aren't already there? How would you feel if you were encouraged to work there for decades (for small wages), then when the economy crashed there martian anger then turned towards you?
They'd blame you for quickly having sex to have an anchor baby so you couldn't be deported. They'd blame you for taking martian jobs. They'd call you a leech to their economic system. They'd blame you for bringing drugs and diseases that didn't previously exist on Mars.
They'd be upset that everything had to be written in human along with martian instead of you having to learn martian.
They'd then wrap themselves in the martian flag and demand that you show them your earth papers to prove that you had immigrated legally (and not just in the landing gear of the spaceshuttle).
Lousy nationalist martians....
I'm not sure that if we don't go to other planets that it will directly mean that we cure cancer or feed the hungry or give every child a good education. All I can say is that 5000 years from now we'll be a pretty sorry species if we're still trying to cram all of our sorry asses onto Earth.
I agree. But Mars isn't habitable. Unless we find a way to transform it's gravity, atmosphere, distance from the sun, and so many other variables, life will not exist on Mars.
Making comparisons of European immigration to the New World is slightly different than moving to mars. At least euros weren't wondering how they'd breath or drink once they landed here.
