New Mars Forums

pablo

Banned

Registered: 2002-05-02

Posts: 5

Re: NR mars article citing Zubrin - NR mars article citing Zubrin

NR article citing Zubrin about Nixon era scuttling of space exploration and legalities of Mars colonization.  I find it surprising that such a politically focused group such as NR would would weigh in pro-mars.  Seems like the guy read Entering Space and got religion.  Anything other explanation?  Also, any chance for momentum here?  Who's more likely to get us to Mars: the National Review (Right) or New Republic (Left)?  Or Santa Claus?

Going to Mars seems to require efficiency (Republican/Libertarian) ~and~ great spirit (progressive liberalism).

Hm, if they could bottle both of those in the same party, I'd vote.

Phobos

Member

Registered: 2002-01-02

Posts: 1,103

Re: NR mars article citing Zubrin - NR mars article citing Zubrin

I think both the political left and right have its fair share of pro-space supporters and detractors.  I know a lot of rightist anti-tax people who seem to have a contradictory love of NASA.  I also know a lot of big government loving peeps who think the concept of flying into space is the dumbest idea since pet rocks, so in my unscientific opinion, I think the split is pretty even.

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To achieve the impossible you must attempt the absurd

Dayton3

Member

Registered: 2002-06-03

Posts: 137

Re: NR mars article citing Zubrin - NR mars article citing Zubrin

You'll get more support from the right since conservatives are likely to see it as an issue of national pride and achievement.  And worth it just to show American superiority.

Shaun Barrett

Member

From: Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Registered: 2001-12-28

Posts: 2,843

Re: NR mars article citing Zubrin - NR mars article citing Zubrin

This could be the early beginnings of a subtle groundswell of opinion in favour of Mars.
   The fact that it is espoused by a right-wing publication is encouraging since that kind of person is, traditionally, likely to have money and is likely to know people in positions of executive power and/or authority ... i.e. "the establishment"!
   It seems that the prospect of America being denied any formal rights over the Moon and Mars, coupled with the stated intention of China (the last significant communist power) to stake at least a commercial claim to parts of both, might be starting to register in the consciousness of the Washington bureaucracy! And the thought of the UN standing on Mars and dictating terms to Uncle Sam is just too much to bear!!
   Elsewhere I've suggested that the best reasons to go to Mars are because we're curious and we have to explore. If gung-ho jingoism turns out to be the only thing that will actually get us there, then so be it. Better than not going at all!
   Even if it means the first expedition to Mars consists entirely of property-rights lawyers!!
                                             

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The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down.   - Rita Rudner

Bill White

Member

Registered: 2001-09-09

Posts: 2,114

Re: NR mars article citing Zubrin - NR mars article citing Zubrin

You'll get more support from the right since conservatives are likely to see it as an issue of national pride and achievement.  And worth it just to show American superiority.

Especially if Mars development is done in a way that best enhances the profits of major US corporations  

I saw a Discovery Channel program which asserted that humanity's first trillionaire will be made in space.

Do not expect the US to withdraw from the Outer Space treaty UNTIL major US corporations are poised to establish commercial operations on Mars. Then, we will withdraw in a  flash.

To return to Zubrin's Wild West analogy - who really got rich in the late 1800s?

It was NOT the poor folk slogging along the Oregon Trail - it was the owners of the railroads.

Phobos

Member

Registered: 2002-01-02

Posts: 1,103

Re: NR mars article citing Zubrin - NR mars article citing Zubrin

It seems that the prospect of America being denied any formal rights over the Moon and Mars, coupled with the stated intention of China (the last significant communist power) to stake at least a commercial claim to parts of both, might be starting to register in the consciousness of the Washington bureaucracy! And the thought of the UN standing on Mars and dictating terms to Uncle Sam is just too much to bear!!

I used to be a U.N. supporter, but lately it just seems to be turning into more of an anti-free enterprise, extremely left wing group of elitists who seem to think they should have political dictatorship over every aspect of our lives.  God forbid, if the delegates in the U.N. get their way we'll have no right to stake any kind of claim or even to go into space unless we have the permission of the all knowing and all powerful commissars.  So I agree, to #### with what the U.N. thinks about space.

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To achieve the impossible you must attempt the absurd