I'm sure there will be centralized control and legislation and authority for
a long time, but the emergence of conflicting interests as space based
population and markets expands will eventually lead to a much less organized
and much more varied and unstable situation.
FWIW being an old cynic I expect that the colonization of space will allow
the human race to return to their favourite pastime: slaughtering each
other.
No more of all this world order control nonsense, human rights pain, fun
spoiling weapons bans etc. as soon as space colonies will be large enough
and politically and economically "mature" they'll start happily to throw
nuclear warheads at each other, after all space is already inhabitable so no
reason not to drop a few megatons to kill an infantryman.... at last! The
dream of the military since the cold war finally will come true...
However I think mankind is not so stupid as human individuals can be, and
generally speaking I doubt military operations will be conducted in a way
that will endanger extremely valuable colonies and habitats. I would imagine
we will see something more akin to early renaissance European warfare, with
professional armies facing each other in a highly specialised form of
warfare that dictates political and economical influence and control, but
never involve production centers and civilian population in the actual
fights... I doubt anyone will start the kind of total war aimed at the
complete annihilation of an entire enemy population as we have seen in the
more recent conflicts before having spent a few centuries gallantly blowing
the crap out of each other in a very honourable manner first.
Claudio
years from now, liftport succeeds in putting up their space crane, and
Mine will have a machine to process raw lunar material into sheets and a
solar powered laser cutting machine to convert these sheets into a variety
of items. Of course by now there is a depository of mass driven lunar soil
that can supply raw material for even less than the elevator can. The
industrial area of my orbital factory will have no artificial gravity but
the living quarters will have spin. The main hobby of people in my factory
is expanding the living area. this will be like a spinning cylindrical
bubble blown by the factory. These bubbles are then "pinched off " and sold
as raw space, for ships to tour the solar system, other factories, simple
living space. I think these will be plant filled for the benefits to the
local environment and the health of people living in the space. Even though
grain and such will be cheaper to purchase from earth, there is more to
having a Green ship than the growing of crops. It is also a backup
environmental control system. And a supplier of complex organics that
improve the quality of life. The other activity for people at the factory
is making simple deep space probes that slowly accelerate on some stable
mild energy like solar wind. The codes to understand the feeble
transmissions that are sent back are peoples legacies to their children, and
someday they will see pictures of some other system.
I have a hard time imagining that people would be allowed this much
freedom, some one will always look at space as the "high ground". Some
nations don't want us floating over them, North Korea for example.
I imaging that there could be a commission of engineers to make sure
craft are space worthy and safe, and a "space" traffic control system, but
where would the control end? And once the infrastructure is in orbit, there
could be more freedom, but it seems that space is such a dangerous
environment that social upheaval must be more civil and less violent, or
else it would be too deadly. Also, would any one else feel like a sitting
duck to some extremist group that wants to shoot liberals out of the sky?
would there be any protection?
Perhaps the old habits of killing each other will be so detrimental to space living as to become worthless, not that it hasn't always been useless, but I agree that there wont be the same things to fight over. Also, in space an attitude of co-operation will be so important that all who trade and help each other with mutual needs will thrive over any one who tries to take things by force or anyone that treats their neighbors like crap.this makes a previous idea where there is a station for every social and political group seem viable, or a natural development. Instead of trying to control a pre-existing station a person could move to the station that suits them. And it could become easier to make your own orbital living space than to take over control of another one. Of course its silly to imagine that violence will disappear, but I like the Idea written that it will be a highly ritualized professional soldier affair not unlike "early renaissance European warfare". However there is no end to the lack of reason displayed by people andthe more specialized a station is,(communist, Christian, ect..) the more appealing a target it makes to their enemies.so a mixed station might be safer. I did not mean to begin talking about violence and war in space, I hope that space will be a place to escape these things, and they are not what interest me. Perhaps the passion for science and exploration in each individual in space will outweigh everything else, making groups that feel the same way. I guess it sounds naive to think that any human trait(violence,war) that has always existed will not be present in space, but it is also niece to think that anything is impossible and to think that no change is possible. If we do not at least try to leave these things behind we are doing a disservice to ourselves, and perhaps people in space will come up with a new model of society that will be adopted on earth. though there will never be a utopia, anywhere, maybe cops in space will be more like mediators. Does anyone know, if a person spread a giant "net" in space, orbit or other wise, would it be able to collect a significant amount of anything? Like dust or micrometors or something else? also , does anyone know a type of industrial manufacturing that can be done to profit in zero gravity or in vacuum, without a lot of expensive and complicated equipment? Where the value of access to vacuum or various gravities is very high?