"Consider the U.S. government's recognition and protection of
intellectual property in the computer industry. Inventors of computer
hardware were able to patent their inventions, and the government
realized that creators of software also had the right to copyright
their software. If the government had not protected these property
rights, the computer revolution would not have occurred."
[Notice that the sentence above correctly states that government
RECOGNIZED that creators of [whatever] had a RIGHT to protect their
intellectual property. This is THE correct way to state this because
neither government nor any other human is the source or author of
Rights.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Should We Go to Mars? Wrong Question
October, 2001
By: <redacted>
Property rights is a key issue in going to Mars.
On Tuesday evening, October 23 (U.S. time), NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey
orbiting spacecraft will enter into orbit around Mars. From its orbit,
during the next two and a half Earth years, it will make a global map
of the Martian surface.
Whatever the success of this mission, the brilliant work of
scientists, engineers, astronauts, and businessmen in recent decades
has made human exploration and settlement of Mars a serious
possibility in the current generation. Many experts agree that the
main challenge in getting a man to Mars is no longer technological but
rather political: how to persuade the government to spend the $50
billion dollars (by NASA's estimate) needed for the project.
Politicians are asking, "Should we go to Mars?" That is the wrong
question. The right questions are "Should I go to Mars?" "Should I
invest in or work for the exploration and settlement of Mars?" These
are questions each individual, not government or "society," must ask
and answer for himself.
The government has no right to spend its citizens' money on Mars
exploration unless it is for military defense of lives and property.
Every American has a right to invest his money--his property--in
projects of his own choosing.
In 1989 NASA asked for $450 billion to complete a manned mission to
Mars. If that expenditure had been approved, a half trillion dollars
would have been robbed from private investors. Many innovative
computer, telecommunications, and Internet companies that have fueled
our economy would not even exist today.
By 1999 NASA had cut its estimated cost of a manned Mars mission from
$450 billion to $50 billion. One man whose technical ideas are largely
responsible for this dramatic reduction is Robert Zubrin, an aerospace
engineer in private industry. Dr. Zubrin has estimated that if the
mission were done by more-efficient private industry, it would cost
only about $5 billion. Other businessmen estimate that a private
mission to Mars could probably be financed by raising $10 billion in
revenue just from the sale of broadcast rights and advertising and
promotion. But if the first Mars mission turns out to be a government
one, marketing revenues for a private mission will disappear, because
the public is not so interested in something that is second.
Rather than spend taxpayer money on Mars exploration, the government
should provide something far more valuable: recognition and protection
of property rights.
Consider the U.S. government's recognition and protection of
intellectual property in the computer industry. Inventors of computer
hardware were able to patent their inventions, and the government
realized that creators of software also had the right to copyright
their software. If the government had not protected these property
rights, the computer revolution would not have occurred.
The government's protection of rights is now needed in space. The U.S.
government must recognize that private individuals who explore
extraterrestrial land--the Moon, Mars, asteroids, etc.--endow that
land with value where there had been none; and those individuals have
a moral right to claim and use that land as their private property.
They have the right to decide what to do with Mars, just as you have
the right to use, sell, or develop your home or property.
A private mission to Mars would cost taxpayers nothing. Only those who
expected to profit in some way, financially or otherwise, would invest
their money and time. If their investments failed, only they would
suffer. If they succeeded, the riches of Martian real estate, tourism,
advertising, scientific experiments, and mining would be theirs.
Is it worth going to Mars? Let each individual decide for himself. The
government's only role should be to protect property rights.
Recognition of that role is the breakthrough needed by the heroic
pioneers who say, "I should go to Mars."
