For or Against . . .

> Proposition: The first habitat, not space station, in space MUST
> have a population of 250,000 people in order to function as an
> economically self-supporting nation.
There are self-supporting nation-states much smaller than that on Earth. Monaco has a population of the same order of magnitude as Dr. O'Neill's proposed Island One. This does not mean that Monaco could survive in modern ease without strong economic ties with the rest of the world; that would require a population of the same order of magnitude as that of the USA. Communist Albania and North Korea are examples of what happens when countries sever most of the economic ties with the reast of the world - though they were/are in addition hampered by an inefficient economic system ---but I see no reason to build an early space colony that could comfortably survive and thrive even if the Earth blew up. Rather one that would produce items of value for the Earth economy, and with part of the profits import such items from Earth as could not be produced in space until much later in the growth of the space community.

> What do you think? And why?
How much of the economic activity in the developed nations is luxuries, such as fifty brands of cellphones, six hundred brands of shoes and boob jobs?

In an early space habitat there would be ore refining, production of parts for powersats or whatever paydirt were being produced, and the construction of this paydirt. There would also be construction of additional habitats. There would be food production and processing. There would be maintenance of the habitat, and waste management. There would be administration. There would be doctors, dentists and teachers. There would be dock workers to handle incoming and outgoing traffic. There would be distribution of eg. food within the colony. Production of soap, not to forget.
All these work functions would require workers, and all of them would be essential. Some could be covered by the same personnel. The electrician who installed the wires in your house when the habitat was first built, and who now busies himself with the powersats, can also take time out to fix or add to the electric wires in your house: construction and maintenance done by the same bloke. Doctors and nurses could haul goods at the spacedocks, ready to rush to the hospital when injured people came in. Or do paperwork in administration if they were too snobbish to haul crates, but what then would they be doing among pioneers and frontierspeople?
But what else would be needed, and how much would it be needed? Certainly there would be no need to manufacture TV sets in space, just to grab an example. At that time thin and low-mass TV sets will be even more available than they are now. In comparison to the mass of a family, it would be cheap to transport one from Earth to their house in space, and if some families could not live without a telly in every room and three in the garden, they would have no business being frontierspeople.
What about all the small plastic items that we use? From toothbrushes to tupperware? Certainly producing those in space would require a basic plastics manufacturing industry, perhaps based on methane ice and other carbon compounds found in carbonaceous chondritic type asteroids or dead comets. But would it not be feasible in the early days to import such things from Earth? The plastic items in my kitchen and bathroom are certainly of lower total mass than I am. And apart from brushes, they last. A colonist could bring a few hundred grams worth of toothbrushes along, and they would last until his next holiday back on Earth.
Computers? Could not computer cabinets be produced fairly easily in space, since metal-working industry would already be fairly well developed? Then the electronic components could be imported from Earth. Home computer builders often choose the various components and insert them in a home-built cabinet, perhaps one made of wood, or not an enclosed cabinet at all.
Bicycles? Bike frames produced in space, and the rest, of lower total mass than the frame, imported from Earth? When your bike needs repair, it is generally the low mass items that need be replaced. And motor vehicles, even electric ones, would be unneeded for personal transportation in an Island One-size colony; such mechanical transportation as would be needed to take groceries from the ag-areas to the shops and similar tasks could be built at the same time as the colony was.
Surgical instruments? Relatively low mass, compared to the rest of the items needed in a society.
Every newest fad such as the latest type of cellphone and the latest fashion? Again, while these form a noticeable part of the economy in the rich world, driven in part by the skills of the advertising industry, people who need these have no place in an early space settlement.
Clothing in general? In an early space habitat, with probably a subtropical climate, few clothes would be needed to keep people warm. Certainly a pioneering type could live in ease with two pairs of shorts and ten sets of underwear and a pair of sandals and perhaps a jersey or a jacket against cool evenings. Nothing that the colonists couldn't bring with them themselves on the way up, and if produced to last, could last for several years.
If some of your furniture breaks and cannot be repaired, or if you're tired of chairs and tables made of alu? No plastic or timber in an early space habitat, but a section of the ag-areas could be set aside for bamboo.
For that matter, houses could be built of bamboo, in a climate that's warm and without extremes of weather.

Jon L. Beck.