On Mon, 19 Jan 2004, John Washburn wrote: > I would think the problem with the camp X-Ray approach is the same as > happened historically in Botany Bay or fictionally in the Moon is a > Harsh Mistress. > > When (not if) the ongoing support of the penal colony collapses what > happens? > > The children are in legal limbo; neither convict nor citizen. (No one
Don't they all get sterilized by radiation on the way to Mars, meaning that there are no children to be concerned about? > is going to pay the expense to ship them home). The colonists are cut > off from the home world/empire. They had little love for the home > world/empire in the first place. Cut adrift and left to their own > devices why wouldn't the colonists/prisoners declare independence and > have an interplanetary war of secession? Assuming that the radiation isn't such a serious problem, the moon looks like a more realistic proposition. Only a couple of days away. Lots of energy in sunlight. Lots of available minerals. Gravity well fairly shallow so things can be exported to Earth if on friendly terms and trading -- or just tossed in that direction if things go bad. ;-) -- Jim Dixon [EMAIL PROTECTED] tel +44 117 982 0786 mobile +44 797 373 7881 http://jxcl.sourceforge.net Java unit test coverage http://xlattice.sourceforge.net p2p communications infrastructure
