How should we organise a colony on Mars? (Venue: Caffè Nero)

(Scroll down for topic intro)

THE VENUE: Caffè Nero

It is now autumn, so we will meet indoors for the next few months.

When we meet indoors, we run the same event in two locations: Caffè Nero and Starbucks, so as to provide capacity for as many people who would like to attend, without overwhelming any one venue. Thus, there will be two events published, and you can choose which one to attend. Please don't sign up for both. This event is for the Nero location.

We meet upstairs at Caffè Nero. An organiser will be present from 10.45. We are not charged for use of the space so it would be good if everyone bought at least one drink.

An attendee limit has been set so as not to overwhelm the venue.

Etiquette
Our discussions are friendly and open. We are a discussion group, not a for-and-against debating society. But it helps if we try to stay on topic. And we should not talk over others, interrupt them, or try to dominate the conversation.

There is often a waiting list for places, so please cancel your attendance as soon as possible if you subsequently find you can't come.

WhatsApp groups
We have two WhatsApp groups. One is to notify events, including extra events such as meeting for a meal or a drink during the week which we don't normally put on the Meetup site. The other is for open discussion of whatever topics occur to people. If you would like to join either or both groups, please send a note of the phone number you would like to use to Richard Baron on: [email protected]. (This is an alias that can be discarded if it attracts spam, hence the odd words.)

THE TOPIC: How should we organise a colony on Mars?

Thank you to Richard for this week's topic.

Here is a question from the general paper in the All Souls College prize fellowship examination in 2025:

You get to decide the demographic composition and institutional design of the first Mars colony of 10,000 people. What would it look like and why?

Candidates had one hour. We have two, and we are allowed to confer.

Here are some assumptions we might like to make:

The technology will allow the colony to endure for hundreds of years
Joining is a one-way trip (no return to Earth)
The colonists will be volunteers - although any children they have there will not be.

Demography

What would be a good demographic composition? Mostly the young and energetic, or mostly the old and (allegedly) wise?

Would there be anything we could or should do to maintain the demographic composition? Or should we think of a one-generation colony that would then die out or be replenished from Earth? Or leave it up to the colonists to take that kind of decision about the future of their society?

Social structure

Should we try to set up a rational social structure, like the one Charles Fourier planned:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanst%C3%A8re

Even if we do not go that far, maybe we should set up education and health services, and systems of reward for work and taxation to ensure some level of equality. Or maybe we should stand back and invite the colonists to act in whatever ways suited them individually.

One point of reference here is John Rawls, who thought that if you did not know your position in a society you were planning, you would want inequalities to be ones that would benefit the least well off (because it might be you). Another point of reference is Robert Nozick, who thought that people could be left to develop the necessary structures for communal action - for example police and the courts - naturally.

Political authority

If we would want a democracy, would we want an indirect one, in which the elected government had considerable power until the next general election? Or would we prefer direct democracy, with referenda on most issues? Maybe 10,000 people would be small enough for direct democracy. But maybe coherence of policy, given by a government of a few people, would be critical in a hostile environment like Mars.

Indeed, given the difficulty of survival, would democracy be dangerous? Should we put skilled engineers and wise philosophers in charge?

Should we build in any constitutional safeguards to protect our chosen system of government, or the rights of individuals? And could we do anything to keep those safeguards effective, given that intervention from Earth would be impractical?

Please come along on Sunday, work out what should be done, and if you like, volunteer for the adventure.