A change in thinking about ISS

SSI is an organization focused on the utilization of extra-terrestrial
resources (a.k.a., "living off the land"). How specifically does ISS
help achieve any of SSI's goals? While agreeing with those who say we should try to figure out how to best make use of ISS since it's an accomplished fact, I also agree with you that ISS is very far removed from any of SSI's goals. I was once debating on Usenet on the subject of the advantages of orbital space as a location vs. planetary surfaces. One person said something to the effect that any previously perceived notion of advantages of being in orbit have been pretty much killed with our experience of the ISS. I made the points that the success or failure of ISS in no way at all reflected on the correctness of the High Frontier viewpoint, seeing as how ISS: is in too low an orbit to capitalize on constant availability of sunlight doesnot have a closed ecology doesnot spin for simulation of gravity is not equipped for industrial processing of ET materials was never configured as a transportation hub, and thus fails to capitalize on the advantage of being closer to the top of the gravity well I also made the point that if NASA was the one doing operations on other planetary surfaces, there was no reason to expect that to go any better than ISS has.