Reddit reviews 2081

Philosophically, why shouldn't people be able to own things in space?

Unprecedented, perhaps, but far from impossible or impractical. The engineering for it has been available since the 1970s, and would be easier now compared to then. From a technical standpoint, we can do it. It's gathering the will and the money to support such a venture that nobody has done yet. As for your assertion that a group funding a structure would have to restrict the freedoms of those living aboard it - explain, please, because I don't see that.

We don't need to change anything to move beyond Earth, except perhaps the growing idea in the West that space investment is a waste of money, stealing from the poor, and irrelevant to peoples' lives here on Earth. We don't need a collectivist approach, we don't need rigid social control, we don't need material support from a government simply to survive - we already know how to design around each and every one of those issues. Yes, space is unforgiving - and that's why you build very resilient habitats that have a lot of redundancy. Humanity has long solved its problems through technology, not social fiat, and it's unrealistic to expect that to change.

I've gone back and read through most of your posts in this topic, and you seem pretty pessimistic, so I have a few book suggestions for you:

• The High Frontier
  
• 2081: A Hopeful View of the Human Future
  
• A Step Farther Out
  
  They were written during the 1970s and 80s, but all three are still relevant today, especially from an engineering and materials perspective, and offer a perspective that is unfortunately rarely seen today.