[ExI] OP-ED: The billionaire space race reflects a colonial mindset that fails to imagine a different world

[Adrian Tymes]

Who exactly is there to enslave in space?

And what environment would be transformed?

These factors alone, not to mention the vastly increased importance of
technical competence for survival, will make space colonies rather
different than historical colonies.

On Thu, Aug 26, 2021 at 6:41 AM John Grigg via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> A history professor weighs in on the current approach to industrializing
> and colonizing our solar system... He sees similarities with 17th century
> European expansionism..."A failure of the imagination"
>
> "The techno-utopian visions of Musk and Bezos betray some of the same
> assumptions as their early modern forebears. They offer colonialism as a
> panacea for complex social, political and economic ills, rather than
> attempting to work towards a better world within the constraints of our
> environment.
>
> And rather than facing the palpably devastating consequences of an
> ideology of limitless growth on our planet, they seek to export it,
> unaltered, into space. They imagine themselves capable of creating liveable
> environments where none exist.
>
> But for all their futuristic imagery, they have failed to imagine a
> different world. And they have ignored the history of colonialism on this
> one. Empire never recreated Eden, but it did fuel centuries of growth based
> on expropriation, enslavement and environmental transformation in defiance
> of all limits. We are struggling with these consequences today."
> https://www.space.com/billionaire-space-race-colonial-mindset
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