It's sad that we most likely see a colonisation of another planet in our lifetime. This internet reporter would love to see a Worlds Cup tournament, or a Milky Way Superbowl. If you lived at a time where intergalactic colonisation was possible, would you be on the first fleet? If a new planet was colonised, who would it belong to exactly? Are you happy or sad that you won't live to see Survivor: Gliese 581d, or Lady Gaga's militant army annex the moon from our planet?
I know the future of the human race invariably involves colonisation of new planets and such, but the focus on it leaves me a bit wary. I'd hope we're more intent on fixing the world we're on before we go bringing the same troubles to a new rock.
If we were able to colonize a new planet all interest in preserving this one would immediately be abandoned, I'm pretty sure. I think the question of who the area would belong to on a new planet if we were ever able to get one that could support us is an interesting one. I imagine it would play out very similar to the way expansion here on earth did not that long ago. The initial travel methods to this new planet would probably not be very fast or efficient and as such it'd be really tough for any one nation on Earth to police the people they send to this new planet. Of course every government in the world would race to send people there who they intend to use as puppets to run this new planet how they see fit here on earth, but unless we get sci-fi style brainwashing or droids or something the people who go will not take long to say "hey wait a minute those dudes are on another fucking planet i'm gonna do what i want." Unless of course we discovered/interacted with an alien species sometime before or during this planet colonization. Especially if said aliens were more advanced/powerful than us and as such we had to fear them. Something like that would drive everyone on this planet to band together in some way or another. When you have an alien race threatening to wipe your planet out it really doesn't matter what race other people are or what happened between countries before. I bet an alien race attacking our species would go a long way to making Earth a better place, actually. Well except some fuckers would side with the aliens of course. Probably North Korea. They'd sell out the rest of us humans but ultimately they'd all get what was coming to them in the end we've all seen the movies.
If a powerful more advanced race of aliens came to earth with the intentions of enslaving us, I'd totally be like "Hey guys, want me to give ya the 411? What kills us, our weaponry, important targets you might want to take out, etc. Just grant me and a select few immunity, throw me a small town to rule over and we'll call it squarsies!" Colonizing another planet would probably just be another revolutionary war. Only cooler because this one would have to take place in space.
A great book to read on this subject is the Martian Chronicles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_Chronicles
we should never go into space until we're ready we shouldn't even look up when we walk. down here is what's happening. it's like my uncle always said, get a girlfriend on earth first, then think about colonizing other planets
Your uncle sounds like he's got it all figured out. I'd say if any planet were claimed by an Earth government it'd be in the name of the U.N., probably with the U.S.A. as chief supporter/military muscle. It's funny to think about the same wars being fought on two worlds.
I can't wait until the people from the new planet are like, "Fuck you earth! We aren't going to pay you taxes!" and then there will be a big war and maybe some genocide and there will be a civil war over the enslavement of aliens that are used to collect space lambplant fleece. I basically want to go there and live out the space version of the wild west.
I'm waiting for the guy who blocks all communication, claims it's a malfunction and then is all like: "Uh, hey guys! Earth says they want to make me the supreme commander super king of this new planet. I can't show you the message -just take my word on it!"
