Why Planetocracy?
The solar system contains vastly more energy and raw materials than can be found on Earth. This can support a much larger human population than can presently be supported on Earth, and thus potentially many more large scale civilisations.
The title of this newsletter - roughly Greek for “rule by migrants” - alludes to the fact that having so many disparate societies to choose from, competition to attract migrants from Earth (and in the long term, from each other) will drive these societies to become attractive places to live. Thus human flourishing can be enhanced by the possibilities of the solar system as much as material wealth can be.
A few links to get a feel for what I write here. First, a discussion of the core problem of space settlement:
Secondly, how spaceflight could become affordable for the masses:
why simple analysis of a business case is insufficient for making space policy
and finally, some underlying humanist principles behind the whole endeavour:
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