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From: Steve Long [mailto:longsteven@...]

> But I liked the book; and you'll notice (if you read
> it all) that Earth sent undesirables there to relieve
> population pressure at home,

But is this a realistic scenario? Firstly, population growth has not
been as bad as the doomsayers of the 60's and 70's had predicted. The
latest demographic projections predict a near-term peak and then a
slight decline.

Secondly, even if we assume overpopulation does become a problem in the
future, would sending the excess to Mars be an economically viable
solution? How would the transportation costs compare to the costs of
contraception, even if it had to be enforced at the point of a gun?

> Earth is sucking its own wealth away, it doesn't need any
> help from Mars.

We're creating new wealth every day. (Hint: wealth does not equal
resources, and vice versa.)

> How long was it before America's colonies (not the Spanish
> conquistadores who simply stole everything) began returning
> wealth to Europe?

Quite a few years. And as you very correctly point out, it's beyond the
horizon of the average corporation. But a point is that Europe could
SEE THE POTENTIAL for payback even from the very beginning. We can't
see any such potential for Mars.

> You seem to have been suggesting that species that live on
> the surface of a planet suffer all kinds of disadvantages,
> most of which they are unaware of.

Exactly so. Some of the disadvantages of living on Mars are difficult
for us to see because they're disadvantages we've always had to live
with, and we have difficulty imagining anything better.

There are certainly advantages to living on Earth. My point of view is
that to go live on Mars would be to surrender most all of the advantages
of living on Earth while not gaining any of the advantages of living in
space.

> Are you saying that it would be the best of all possible worlds
> if all of humanity moved off-planet?

I'd put it this way: In a future where there are more people living in
orbit than on the surface of the Earth, the orbital population may well
look at the Earth people as being unfortunately situated.

> Space habitats for six
> billion people, and just use the Earth as a raw materials source?

Earth would be a bad source for materials due to its steep gravity well.
This type of civilization will derive all of its materials from
asteroids and small moons.

Regards,

Mike Combs