My belief is that Mars will be colonized for ideological reasons, not for profit. A Mars colony won't be profitable. But it will be colonized, mostly for prestige, and also because of overcrowding & pollution, which will become bigger issues in the coming decades.

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jaccola 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

But why? We’ve not colonised either of the poles of our own planet in any real way out of a sense of prestige. Heck there’s huge areas in Canada and Russia uninhabited and these are all a dream to live in compared to Mars.

Turns out the real overpopulation is in places people want to live.

	▲	tristanj 37 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Because I don't believe our species should be trapped this planet forever. If we don't become multiplanetary now, then when? And there is an incredibly short window for us to become multiplanetary. We currently live in a golden era of abundance that will not last, and we must make the most of this time period. I think most people don't realize how inherently unstable our society is, and how quickly civilization can devolve. Nuclear war is a huge issue. We've had three conflicts this decade that could have led to a nuclear war. All of which are still unresolved.
	▲	tehlike 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Redundancy is the answer.

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consp 33 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The ecological cost of moving the amount of people to even put a tiny dent in the earth's population would kill more and adjust the number that way than the actual moving would.

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HerbManic 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I say it will not be colonized based on problems of cosmic radiation, not because of lack of ambition or funds.

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kraf 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

But why did you invest on those grounds? Is profit not your goal here?