Those prices are merely a proxy for the complexity and resources necessary to go and mine off-world resources. We need a highly complex economic and manufactur

Those prices are merely a proxy for the complexity and resources necessary to go and mine off-world resources. We need a highly complex economic and manufacturing system to remain in place for a long period despite increased pressures of resource depletion and overpopulation and the commensurate rise in instability; we need to use huge amounts of resources to create a space program - materials and energy; energy - all of the above requires huge petrochemical inputs which are finite and depleting rapidly. There was only 1 cubic mile of oil in the world and we're half way through it and what's left is being sucked out faster than ever before and is harder to get to (EROEI).