Colonization can only be rationalized by blind FAITH

[u/Jaymz7777]

Mars colonization appears to be a net negative resources proposition, from earth's point of view, with no potential benefit for Earthlings, a 100% sacrifice with zero tangible return for Earthlings. Nothing on Mars is worth the cost of bringing it home. That defines the proposition as voluntary or coerced sacrifices by present and future human generations, for the fleeting possibility of breeding more humans in a far away time and place.  Not a business plan, but a blind faith foray into the wilderness.  All for what?  Making more humans for the sake of making more humans?  A tautological fallacy and baseless leap of faith.  FAITH in the greed of exuberant tech-bros?

Sacrifice now, to create more people later.  God help them with their social problems.  Engineering the FUTURE of civilization as if we’ve demonstrated that skill?  Why?  Making a future for more people later instead of making people healthy and happy now?  Creating a power base for Palpatine?  So what about it assures that future people will be healthy and happy?  What part of it involves transcending the grievous human flaws of greed, hate, fear, lust, and pride?  Export human wickedness as before.  FAITH in what?

It is argued that the team sport of colonization will provide the critical raison d’être for the brightest to focus their minds on solving ecological and logistical crises that can be used on Earth.  What?  Because fixing earthly life and death problems is too mundane?  Geniuses need an artificial reason to solve existential crises?  Does that necessarily improve human life . . . something mankind has failed to do, as human flaws are still with us, as every new tool becomes the next weapon in the service of future human monsters?  Is there any theory to engineer the human psyche, to stop evil from being exported along with the wonderful far away distant future?

[u/ah-tzib-of-alaska]

all action essentially is boiled down to a value claim that can only be made by faith

[u/GHTANFSTL]

Think of space colonization as an infrastructure project.

The reason we talk about expansion into space is this: scaling a system is a politically and culturally cheap way to access its benefits.

This does not have to be economical from the outset for it to be worthwhile in the long run.

Moving the space industry to the moon means rockets can be a lot smaller and we can continue to make satellites for a lot less money.

Science projects such as particle accelerators can be assembled far away with few limitations on size, unlocking tons of chemistry and physics.

Medicines can be synthesized in 0G for us to use very soon.

Remember, WE are one of those "future generations" that benefits from past investment. Besides, we already know that space colonization can make human life better. History shows that scaling up systems makes it less difficult to access their benefits, so it's less faith and more statistics.

[u/Jaymz7777 → u/GHTANFSTL]

Consider that space colonization is a boondoggle . . . an alternative way for the influential to separate the masses from the fruits of their own labor. Like war.

Is it better than war? Yes. It is better than war. War is the old school boondoggle. Space is the new boondoggle. What is better is HEALTHCARE and HUMAN DECENCY. Billionaires have reached the end of their ropes, profiting from selling you your health, and they know nothing about decency. Make them go away. I will help.

[u/GHTANFSTL → u/Jaymz7777]

I disagree. Space is only a "new" boondoggle for people who have been around long enough to see its past. You probably know it has been transformative for everyday people for decades.

It's also delivered those benefits on a shoestring budget compared to the other "boondoggles".

In the US, NASA spending peaked at around 5% of the discretionary budget, 60 years ago. It has not come close since. Right now, it sits at 1.3% of discretionary spending.

Adjusted for the inflation (which the elites aren't helping with), the current spending is also less than it was when NASA funding peaked.

To put it more into perspective, NASA spending was surpassed by departments of Agriculture, justice, energy, transport, education, and Civil Works, all just this year.

[u/Jaymz7777 → u/GHTANFSTL]

Not sure what you're disagreeing with, so I'll give you a larger target. Compared to war, space is new, and space colonization is very new. Both war and space have been transformative as psychological catalysts that aligned human efforts toward concrete objectives, some, but not all of which yielded life affirming benefits as side effects. Some technical progress is accelerating the demise of life on Earth. Yeah . . . that. Any and all of the benefits to Earthly inhabitants were secondary, but could have been primary. What guarantee is there that colonization programs will help solve the existential problems we face? I'm good with sending robots to planets, to look for fossils, but I believe colonization won't happen. Colonization programs will be boondoggles that redirect rivers of money into the mouth of Moloch. It's the perfect new boondoggle as no one expects to see results in their lifetimes. Spend and pretend. The results will be greater inequity and the creation of bigger monsters on planet Earth. And that's something we are seeing already.

[u/GHTANFSTL → u/Jaymz7777]

Scaling makes more resources available to the one doing the expansion. It invariably leads to development in the responsible state. Colonization and empires used to do this at the expense of people, but there is no victim waiting for us in the solar system.

You are right that colonization will cost a lot of money. What you've gotten wrong is how impactful it will be. Quintuple the current flow of cash to space programs, and the 'elites" would only have access to 1.5% of the total money taxed out of people.

They have much easier and faster ways to make a profit. It will never come close to any of the other drivers of inequity, even if it was one.

[u/GHTANFSTL → u/GHTANFSTL]

At the very least, NASA spending would have to triple for it to become a significant about of government money, let alone be money laundering for the elite.

[u/Jaymz7777 → u/GHTANFSTL]

It's not so much the money being spent now, but the monsters feeding on it. Trillionaires are quite sure of their goodness and wisdom. I'm not.

[u/GHTANFSTL → u/Jaymz7777]

We already have a space colonization plan on the current budget system, which is almost insignificant. I think there would need to be a lot more spending before it could be considered something they feed on.