A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?

by Kelly Weinersmith

Nations don’t fight over land, they fight over particular land. You can’t solve disputes over Jerusalem or Kashmir or Crimea by promising the parties involved equally large stretches of Antarctica.

When you want to buy a hot tub, nobody says “It is the destiny of Man to put His butt in bubbly hot water.” Nobody tries to convince you that a hot tub–less humanity is bound to stagnate. Nobody tells you the proliferation of toasty warm outdoor bathtubs will end human conflict. It’s just that you want a hot tub and someone is selling it, and nobody has any right to stop you. This is not the most noble or uplifting argument for any particular action, but then we suspect appeals to human nobility tend to co-occur with appeals for taxpayer money.

Antarcticans have a surprising amount of sex and sometimes run around outside naked.

Location, location, location!

kombucha,

Regardless of what type of property Moon water is, under the OST, Moon

territory is very clearly not res nullius. It’s res communis—“common thing”—a framework in which something is common property.