Comment Re:Uh-huh. (Score 2, Interesting) 487
That's true on earth but when these corporations are light years away, how do they face punishment for unethical or illegal behavior? It's not like government would be able to cut a supply line or order an expedition to return home.
I think the author underestimated exactly how ruthless explorers need to be. Corporations are ideal for the job if they can profit from whatever they find. I'm a little annoyed with how much time the author spent convincing me to abandon NASA in favor of corporations only to conclude that corporate exploitation would be bad.
It's a choice. If we let government call the shots, we must accept the consequences of a slow, tedious and cowardly program. If we let corporations call the shots, we must accept their rights to whatever they find.
We can learn from the exploration of the new world. NASA can issue charters with restrictions on how much power they hold over their claims (i.e., corporations keep mineral rights, US keeps territory.)
It all depends on how we want to relate to exploration and how quickly we want to get to new worlds.
The author's claim about pioneers destroying the American West is pretty shallow. I'm sure it's easy to spout nonsense like that from old Europe. Descendants of those pioneers are the people that keep it protected.
Laws are for people with no friends.
I think the author underestimated exactly how ruthless explorers need to be. Corporations are ideal for the job if they can profit from whatever they find. I'm a little annoyed with how much time the author spent convincing me to abandon NASA in favor of corporations only to conclude that corporate exploitation would be bad.
It's a choice. If we let government call the shots, we must accept the consequences of a slow, tedious and cowardly program. If we let corporations call the shots, we must accept their rights to whatever they find.
We can learn from the exploration of the new world. NASA can issue charters with restrictions on how much power they hold over their claims (i.e., corporations keep mineral rights, US keeps territory.)
It all depends on how we want to relate to exploration and how quickly we want to get to new worlds.
The author's claim about pioneers destroying the American West is pretty shallow. I'm sure it's easy to spout nonsense like that from old Europe. Descendants of those pioneers are the people that keep it protected.
Laws are for people with no friends.
