[bashmelek]

As someone who is generally pro-Mars colonization (and has Zubrin’s book), I feel this. We don’t need to dichotomize this and I welcome advances towards humans going beyond where we have ever been.

At the same time, I realize there is a lot of pain and anxiety down here. The environment is being wrecked. Climate is changing beyond what an evolved ecosystem can handle. At the same time, there are poor nations trying to catch up, who will not like being told to slow down by the developed world. With collective action global poverty could be solved in the next 10 years. The worst of it, anyway. But suddenly the argument becomes that by giving a dollar to space exploration you are depriving a starving person? I simply cannot accept that hardline utilitarianism.

Unfortunately, being just some internet person, I don’t have numbers on how much to spend on space technology. What should it be at this point in time, in comparison to all of our other needs? All I can say is greater than zero.