Introduction

From: Darren Brown [mailto:Darren.Brown@...]

Not only could we not keep up with the population increase I don't
know that you could get that many volunteers

Given the ideal living conditions and climates made to order that one could
have in orbital settlements, I think finding volunteers might not be that
hard. Of course it's true that (I think) less than 1% of the population of
Europe decided that immigrating to the New World was the thing to do, and
similar percentages will probably hold in the future.

or that shipping excess
people is the way to control population increase. Aside from the
right or wrong of transhipping population you don't cure a disease by
treating the symptoms, you need to get at the cause.

Very true. In this case, the root cause is actually poverty. As you say,
if we can help the 3rd world to raise their standard of living, population
growth will slow.

But I don't agree that we don't
currently have *any* frontiers but this would be a wonderful addition
to the ones we have and open to more people and certainly the best.

I meant "frontier" only in it's most literal sense, i.e. a new place where
people can go to live and raise families.

Rgds,
Mike Combs

From:
Darren Brown [mailto:Darren.Brown@...]
Not only could we not keep up with the population increase I don't
know that you could get that many volunteers

Given the ideal living conditions and climates made to order that one could have in orbital settlements, I think finding volunteers might not be that hard. Of course it's true that (I think) less than 1% of the population of Europe decided that immigrating to the New World was the thing to do, and similar percentages will probably hold in the future.

or that shipping excess
people is the way to control population increase. Aside from the
right or wrong of transhipping population you don't cure a disease by
treating the symptoms, you need to get at the cause.

Very true. In this case, the root cause is actually poverty. As you say, if we can help the 3rd world to raise their standard of living, population growth will slow.

But I don't agree that we don't
currently have *any* frontiers but this would be a wonderful addition
to the ones we have and open to more people and certainly the best.

I meant "frontier"

only in it's most literal sense, i.e. a new place where people can go to live and raise families.

Rgds,
Mike Combs