Thread: When will humanity expand into space?

Originally Posted by Darkmatters

.. Until that company threatens to stop sending the supply ship they utterly depend on for survival. Or are we talking about fully terraformed planets?

I don't see how that could happen in the real world. I understand how it could happen in your imaginary world, but the real world isn't like that. Corporations have shareholders, and shareholders don't like that sort of thing.

Originally Posted by sloth

Irrelevant. The challenge was that a corporation is unable to claim a planet.

A corporation is unable to claim a planet. It's just not possible. I'm afraid I don't understand your point still.

Originally Posted by sloth

The government really shouldn't be anywhere in the picture, as long as space travel is privatized. What we will have to worry about is corporations claiming planets.

Here, you say that you are worried that a corporation would claim a planet. Now you say it's impossible. You're flip-flopping.

The most practical reason to go into space is in order to mine resources. I'm the kind of guy that prefers economically motivated industry (as opposed to societally motivated infrastructure) be handled privately (though I believe the employees should own the company on a democratic level). While colonization is an important first step, the first to stake new territory are those dreaming of opportunity.

Unfortunately this won't be very pretty. Cmind is trying to romanticize share-holders to an unfair degree. If oil companies here are pushing fracking even though it's proven to cause earthquakes, if it's been proven Monsanto is killing the bees (which would kill us, too) and they're suppressing the studies rather than changing or being dismantled, you can fully expect some awful atrocities to accompany space exploration, as well.

Originally Posted by Original Poster

Unfortunately this won't be very pretty. Cmind is trying to romanticize share-holders to an unfair degree. If oil companies here are pushing fracking even though it's proven to cause earthquakes, if it's been proven Monsanto is killing the bees (which would kill us, too) and they're suppressing the studies rather than changing or being dismantled, you can fully expect some awful atrocities to accompany space exploration, as well.

You're seriously going to compare killing a few bees to marooning the first generation of space colonists? Like those are even remotely similar?

Originally Posted by cmind

A corporation is unable to claim a planet. It's just not possible. I'm afraid I don't understand your point still.

Do you agree with the idea of claiming land at all?

Originally Posted by sloth

Do you agree with the idea of claiming land at all?

I believe in homesteading as an effective means of parceling out previously unowned land. Does that answer your question?

Originally Posted by cmind

I believe in homesteading as an effective means of parceling out previously unowned land. Does that answer your question?

What would be the difference?

Originally Posted by sloth

What would be the difference?

what is this i dont even

Originally Posted by cmind

what is this i dont even

I don't know. I asked if you agreed with the concept of claiming land, and you started talking about something else.

Originally Posted by sloth

I don't know. I asked if you agreed with the concept of claiming land, and you started talking about something else.

no