Going to the Moon(s)
Its predicted that within thirty years, there will be thousands of people living on our moon, funded by private corporations, not tax-paying dollars. If you think about it in terms of history, its really not all that far fetched.
A couple hundred years ago, America was a vast, untamed region that has become overwhelmed by human life due to the need for exploration, expansion & profit. Most of the west was settled in the spirit of "first-to-get-there". But that's not exactly how it happened. Is it? What happened is that a few went out to stake a claim or seek a fortune and the rest followed to feed off that new life - providing services to the original explorer. A 49er was happy to part with his gold at the first whiskey hall en route back to civilization. An enterprising businessperson would set up shop close to the mining site. What followed was construction ventures, law enforcement, schools, etc.
The first long-term visitors to the moon won't be all that different from the 49ers of the past - only more educated and better equipped. But due to the enormous costs in getting there, it will be mostly (or entirely) funded by corporate dollars. Once the first long-term whiskey hall sets up shop we can consider the moon "colonized". Because what will follow is construction ventures, law enforcement, schools, etc. The biggest difference this time around is that the corporate mentality is actually willing to part with their investment dollars because they know more profit will come from the act of colonization than from the miner's gold.
So why are we going if the act of going is more profitable than the first explorer's mining claim? Why especially when the corporation is essentially both sides of the equation? The answer: because we are, simple as that. And whoever gets there first will hold all the cards.
It is this theory that raises my greatest concern. What will the moon be like if "run" by unchecked corporations? Imagine it. We all joke that Microsoft controls or owns the country because of its stronghold on our operating systems. But that's not even close to the stranglehold that could be exerted by a company with dominance on the moon. They would have a truly captive audience.
But should the responsibility be handed to our governments of earth? Probably. But it will never happen because the choice of governing body would be impossible - except perhaps for something along the lines of a Solar UN. But, I don't think that will happen either. Well, it will most likely happen, but it will prove to be ineffective. In a harsh environment such as the oxygen starved moon a slow-acting governing body will simply be ignored, replaced by "law-of-the-gun" as was the west's history.
