The Ethics of the Colonization of Mars

In order to start a discussion on any new idea, or even a proposal, a baseline must be established. It is a bit like going to a psychiatrist and asking for a diagnosis on a human subject. The psychiatrist must conduct a series of tests to determine the subject’s baseline condition to see how the neurons are firing. In this chapter we will attempt to baseline our knowledge of the day and see what inspires the 'biological life' to explore, to plan to go, and to aspire to move to a different planet. Let us think of a giant spaceship named 'paradise'. In this spaceship, there is a group of beings including man that has disobeyed the commander. The commander must evict this group from the 'paradise' per the rules of the spaceship. So the commander looks for a suitable planet. Let us call this planet the 'Earth'. The spaceship hovers over the Earth. The commander lays down the law to this group and says: 'get down'. He then foretells them more bad news 'that some of you will be the enemies of the other' (i.e. you will shed each other’s blood). At the end of the verdict he gives them a little good news: 'and for you, this Earth is the destination and has in it all the provisions that you will need to survive, for a time'. Well! That time is up; the time has come for the biological life on Earth to start a journey in the cosmos on its own strength, and the first steps have already been taken. 1.1 The Urge to Explore The urge to explore and to multiply takes a Monarch Butterfly from Canada across the United States to Mexico, some two thousand miles. Its wings barely span a few inches and the body weighs not even a quarter of an ounce and yet it fearlessly soars across the Great Lakes and into the Great Plains facing every predator and hostile elements that are unthinkable from its point of view. The pilgrimage happens every year and the Day of Judgment arrives for a generation of the monarchs with the same frequency. There is grace and beauty in this exploration. It has in it a goal; it has in it full success; and it has new life. It has in it the beautiful death of the old and after the burial, the beginning of a new sacred mission of the next generation.