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Moral dilemma: What if children conceived and born on Earth decide that Earth totally sucks, and they want to migrate to Mars? Do we build a wall around Mars a

Moral dilemma: What if children conceived and born on Earth decide that Earth totally sucks, and they want to migrate to Mars? Do we build a wall around Mars and tell them their shitty life on earth is all they get, and they should be happy with antarctica? I think your moral argument can easily be flipped, why do you get to decide that we shouldnt do something because there exist people who dont want to do it? What of the the people who do? If you dont want to go, then dont go...

lapcat 4y ago
> Do we build a wall around Mars and tell them their shitty life on earth is all they get, and they should be happy with antarctica? I'm not personally in favor of the "colonize Antarctica" approach. It's true that if we can't figure out how to colonize someplace like Antarctica first, then it's unlikely we'd be successful on Mars, but I'm not advocating the colonization of Mars anyway. > If you dont want to go, then dont go... This completely ignores what I said, which was "You personally may choose the hardest road, but your unborn children would have no choice in the matter".
- unlikelymordant 4y ago
  I guess i see children having to deal with choices their parents made a part of life. Would the offer of a trip back to earth for any child born on mars go any way to overcoming your concerns?
  - lapcat 4y ago
    > I guess i see children having to deal with choices their parents made a part of life. Most responsible parents strive to make the lives of their children better rather than worse. Not always successfully of course, but it's the goal, and going to Mars is predictably worse. > Would the offer of a trip back to earth for any child born on mars go any way to overcoming your concerns? It might allay the moral dilemma, but it would increase the concerns about the long-term viability of the colony.
    - BHSPitMonkey 4y ago
      Would you also say "shame on you" to anyone who procreates in a country with a lower standard of living than the wealthier countries on this planet? After all, aren't those parents subjecting their children to a life with more hazards / less opportunities?
      - lapcat 4y ago
        I'm talking about freedom of choice: >Do we build a wall around Earth and stop them as "illegal aliens"? This was of course an analogy to the United States, where we put up barriers to prevent emigrants from seeking a better life here. There's no shame in procreation, but there's shame in trapping people forever in a place where they no longer want to live.
        moloch-hai 4y ago
        You wouldn't even need an Iron Curtain: moving to Earth, however much they want to, would kill them.
        krisoft 4y ago
        > moving to Earth, however much they want to, would kill them That is an assumption but far from a certainty.
        moloch-hai 4y ago
        Uncertainty does not help you here.
      - samus 4y ago
        Only very few places on Earth are truly that shitty that I would doubt people's sanity for raising children there. Active war zones and areas affected by climate change for example, and to no one's surprise people risk their lives to escape from those. Even in a refugee camp, their children would still lead a life that is magnitudes easier and more pleasurable than on a Mars colony.

lapcat 4y ago

> Do we build a wall around Mars and tell them their shitty life on earth is all they get, and they should be happy with antarctica? I'm not personally in favor of the "colonize Antarctica" approach. It's true that if we can't figure out how to colonize someplace like Antarctica first, then it's unlikely we'd be successful on Mars, but I'm not advocating the colonization of Mars anyway. > If you dont want to go, then dont go... This completely ignores what I said, which was "You personally may choose the hardest road, but your unborn children would have no choice in the matter".

unlikelymordant 4y ago
I guess i see children having to deal with choices their parents made a part of life. Would the offer of a trip back to earth for any child born on mars go any way to overcoming your concerns?
- lapcat 4y ago
  > I guess i see children having to deal with choices their parents made a part of life. Most responsible parents strive to make the lives of their children better rather than worse. Not always successfully of course, but it's the goal, and going to Mars is predictably worse. > Would the offer of a trip back to earth for any child born on mars go any way to overcoming your concerns? It might allay the moral dilemma, but it would increase the concerns about the long-term viability of the colony.
  - BHSPitMonkey 4y ago
    Would you also say "shame on you" to anyone who procreates in a country with a lower standard of living than the wealthier countries on this planet? After all, aren't those parents subjecting their children to a life with more hazards / less opportunities?
    - lapcat 4y ago
      I'm talking about freedom of choice: >Do we build a wall around Earth and stop them as "illegal aliens"? This was of course an analogy to the United States, where we put up barriers to prevent emigrants from seeking a better life here. There's no shame in procreation, but there's shame in trapping people forever in a place where they no longer want to live.
      - moloch-hai 4y ago
        You wouldn't even need an Iron Curtain: moving to Earth, however much they want to, would kill them.
        krisoft 4y ago
        > moving to Earth, however much they want to, would kill them That is an assumption but far from a certainty.
        moloch-hai 4y ago
        Uncertainty does not help you here.
    - samus 4y ago
      Only very few places on Earth are truly that shitty that I would doubt people's sanity for raising children there. Active war zones and areas affected by climate change for example, and to no one's surprise people risk their lives to escape from those. Even in a refugee camp, their children would still lead a life that is magnitudes easier and more pleasurable than on a Mars colony.