When do you think the mankind will finally land on Mars?

[Alistair]

You never know. 10 years from now Elon Musk runs for president and makes it a priority, it might happen. People like to have clear goals when they vote. We have the money, but not the organization.

At the end of the day most people are not productive and money is wasted. We're all tired sick and getting older. Right now all of society's resources are being dedicated to nice retirements for the old.

1) Free healthcare, that's a luxury that doesn't do anything. You're over 70, 90 percent of health care spending is spent on you, but it isn't getting you healthy and back to work.

2) Pensions. The main problem isn't actually health care, it is money for the non working. Most states spend a large portion of their taxes supporting retired people. Famously at one point almost everything in Brazil was just for paying money to non working ex government workers, it can balloon in to a huge problem. Not as bad here, but the same issue.

3) Rent seeking. Because the old and sick don't want to work (of course, I wouldn't either) they take a lot of resources through rent seeking. The biggest portion of that is literally rent. They own all the land and houses and charge a fortune so they can enjoy their retirement without working.

Fundamentally you want men on Mars? You have to reallocate resources to production of space ships and colony support. That means cut health care in half and focus the spending on the under 70, that means no longer having pensions, as people should save for their retirement. That means more focus on cheap new housing to lower the cost of existing stock and reduce rent. All the rich and the powerful are not interested in Mars, they are interested in the opposite, free healthcare, pensions, and high rents.

I don't see us ever getting to Mars in my lifetime. Not without political will to choose where the money flows. And the government controls about half of it.

When the space race happened in the 60s, the US government barely spent money on health care or pensions, and rents were at record lows... because the government spends so much in those areas, that's where people are employed. We don't work building things. We take care of old people. Everyone I know that has any money works in health care.

Last edited by Alistair - on 27 August 2022