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Everyone's excited about rockets to Mars, and each SpaceX launch brings that dream closer to reality. Musk and others are putting a lot of money and brainpower on the technical problem of getting people to Mars. Less sensational topics, such as surviving on Mars, receive less attention — but plenty of money and serious thought, because there's no way to get around them.
But there's another important question which isn't getting much attention:
Who will own Mars, and how will it be governed?
Does Mars belong to the people who get there first? To the highest bidder? To all the people of Earth?
Does Mars belong to Earth, or does Mars belong to Mars? Does it belong to the Sun? To the Martian microbiome, if there is one? (What are the indigenous rights of microbes, I wonder?)
Who will be in charge of Mars once the colonists arrive? If Mars turns out to have valuable resources, who gets them? And if a Mars colony is to govern itself, what kind of government would it have?
The Mars colonization project is driven by the ultra rich. And those who want to stake their claim on Mars may rather the rest of us didn't think too much about the little problem of who owns the planet next door, and why.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 31 2017, @06:04PM (5 children)
We have plenty of precedence right here on this rock.
It will be owned by the person with the biggest guns.
Well, let me add one other thing. It will be owned by the person who can repel kinetic weapons dropped from orbit.
History is full of examples. One people live here. Another people come along with bigger guns. Now the people with the bigger guns live here.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday March 31 2017, @07:16PM
At first Mars might be owned by whoever can actually make the trip there.
One of their first considerations might be how to hang on to their staked out land and resources. The planet is big enough that it would be a while before enough people arrived before it runs out of land. By that point there may be some form of government. Because of the high cost of crossing I can also see a future for "indentured servants".
Whoever gets there early might want to be thinking about how they would repel invaders to their homes.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday March 31 2017, @08:04PM (2 children)
It will be owned by the person who can repel kinetic weapons dropped from orbit.
Not sure whether your answer to this rhetorical question is "no one."
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1) by toddestan on Saturday April 01 2017, @04:42PM (1 child)
Actually, the first person who develops a kinetic weapon system might figure it would be in their best interests to make sure that no one else develops one too. In which case, they'll pretty much own whatever they feel like owning.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday April 03 2017, @03:02PM
Yeah, but even they wouldn't be able to resist orbital bombardment if somebody manages to jack the system.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Friday March 31 2017, @08:06PM
I marked you"insightful", but that will only be true once the colony is self sufficient. Until then it will be controlled by those who provide resupply.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek