David Grinspoon pines for a kinder, gentler approach to settling Mars.
I can just imagine Martians of a century or two hence looking back in fondness and pride on the brave animationers and cultivationizers who came from Earth and established the Thirteen Original Peoplings.
I’ll second Mark Whittington’s comment on this article, but I’ll also give Grinspoon credit for coining an amusing term: Ameriforming. Heh. I like the sound of that…sure beats the alternatives.
America, among the nations of Earth, is arguably the one individuals want most to get to. I can’t imagine a better starting point for the future of Mars, if we are to have settlements that people actually want to go to.
I would be more willing to consider Mr. Grinspoon’s comments as a fair counter-argument to Zubrin’s assertions, if the general undertone of the entire article didn’t smack of a leftist guilt trip.
The societies that eventually emerge on Mars should certainly be allowed to evolve into something different from ours, both because experimentation is healthy and because different conditions may demand different solutions. However, I would argue, that there is not a better starting point than the systems and values that make America unique. If we get there first (as I am certain will be the case) it will be because of those traits, and all the more reason to “Ameriform” Mars. I just hope we have the sense to pack light and leave all the leftist guilt at home.
Here’s another gem from today’s USA Today (this should surprise no one):
“People are interested in something that isn’t bad or monetary…done for no reason except that of interest, really,” author [Kim Stanley] Robinson says. “We live in this giant capitalist society where everything is economical….And there’s this little robot project going on, and everybody likes it. I think it has to do with that sense of separation from the grubby concerns of the ordinary society that we live in.”
What a jerk. Let’s do future Martians a big favor and keep trash like that here on Earth. That would be my kind of contamination control.
It’s a shame that his crappy trilogy is viewed by so many as the definitive Mars settlement thome. I’m waiting for someone with a little more sense to step up to the plate. Anyone?
And Stan writes books because…..?
I don’t know if his books were really any good or not. I got fed up with the endless paeans to lichen, and so never finished the series. A lot of what I did read seemed more about Stan showing everyone how smart Stan is, via obscure pseudointellectual digressions like that whole business with the four humors, than about the usual things like plot and characterization and just plain telling a good yarn. He did a decent job of capturing the setting, though, I’ll give him that.