SSPS for Hydrogen Economy

Tango,

I thought you might say something like all that after reading 'Red Mars',
and I promise you, it gets much, much better. However, I feel privileged to
read you pragmatic analysis - certainly the only one to be done on the grand
ideas in this series that has affected the sensibilities of so many who
could otherwise contribute to the space thing in a more effective way. No
one else will do it, you know. So, I suppose that to you falls the duty and
whatever perverse punishment that might entail. And again, I am looking
forward to your take on the next two. A hint: There is quite a bit more
development in interplanetary politics...

Have Fun!

Val

>Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2004 21:00:23 -0000
>
>--- In ssi_list@... "Valens Agnitio"
>
> > Perhaps Tango would care to weigh in on the subject?
>
>Val,
>
>I think you did a good analysis, and besides, I'm still struggling to
>get through Robinson's "Red Mars." Thankfully, I always have about 6
>books on the go, and after forcing myself to read a few pages I put
>the book down in disgust and read something else. This book really is
>a chore to read. I don't usually read wizards and dragons books, but
>this book reminds me of them, with it's constant invocations of
>"magic" in the infrastructure of Mars simply being there. One
>character hops into a glider to fly a few thousand km for a meeting,
>then abandons the glider there and hops into a personal transport. The
>discovery on Mars of life extension technologies (something that the
>millions of researchers on Earth have missed but a dozen researchers
>on Mars have cracked) (BTW, who shipped a whole biotech lab to Mars
>and how did the reseachers steal lab time for this research instead of
>doing Martian biotech research.) Arghh. I'm always willing to suspend
>disbelief, for instance, Heinlein's "Farmer in the Sky," but
>Heinlein's work was never held up as a bible for terraforming
>Ganymede. It was just a tale and I enjoyed it as such.
>
>As for the economics in the book, I might need to get glasses soon,
>for all of my eye-rolling is sure to have a deleterious effect on my
>eye muscles. I'm guessing that Robinson must have travelled in the
>company of many socialists/leftists/activists. His references to the
>term "transnational corporations" is almost wholly, in my experience,
>restricted to people of that oeuvre. Others refer to them as
>multinational. Then he completely neglects all of the costs associated
>with developing Mars and why corporations and governments would sink
>money into the planet whn things on Earth are so dire. Sure, he offers
>a bone with reference to strategic metals, and even mentions asteroid
>mining as an alternative source, but then with the magical creation of
>a space elevator all will be equalized and thus favor Mars, never mind
>the additional expense of creating a space elevator. Thus far, he
>hasn't offered a persuasive rationale for why all of this capital is
>being invested in Mars so I'm having trouble suspending my disbelief.
>
>At this point in the book, the characters are arguing about
>establishing a new economic system but are going about it in a top
>down fashion rather than looking at what motivates individuals and
>building from the ground up. There is nothing to incentivize behavior
>in his system (as far as I've read.)
>
>And why are nations all sending colonists? What really struck me was a
>character having a traditional lamb dinner with a group of Muslims.
>Who raised the lamb? Who slaughered it? Who grew the spices? Who
>harvested them? Who made the oven? Who made the utensils? Who made the
>pots? etc. All of the comforts of home which result from a complex
>industrial infratructure, but in an exotic location? Add the spice of
>different cultures wanting to preserve the Earth-bound individuality,
>and what you get is a logical mishmash of fiction. How do Muslims pray
>to Mecca and in what direction do they prey when they are on Mars?
>Where exactly is Mecca in the sky?
>
>I surely hope that "Green Mars" and "Blue Mars" are of higher quality
>because thus far, "Red Mars" is a bunch of claptrap. However, I am now
>starting to understand the illogic of many Mars advocates who take
>their visions of Mars homesteading from this work. I've always been
>struck by the illogic of their visions, and now I understand that
>they're arguing from a "wizards and dragons" fantasy of what things
>would be like.
>
>Man, I thought I'd breeze through these books in a few weeks, but my
>determination will be stretched for months I fear. What a perverse
>punishment, LOL.
>
>TangoMan
>

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