The STEAM shakedown

Some "STEAM Degree" types dumped one out: Ethical Exploration and the Role of Planetary Protection in Disrupting Colonial Practices.

The Turtle sums it Delphically: I predict that planners of new missions of the Moon and Mars will completely ignore the anti-colonial ethical analysis of this paper. I'm not a planner, so in that capacity I'm here to NOT ignore this analysis.

On to the buzzword-laden eight-page white-paper, it's as white as I'd expect. A lot of this "violent colonialism" wouldn't even apply to a planet where there are no natives, like our Moon and almost certainly Mars. I'm a Venus guy - a lover, not a fighter - on which planet nothing can live. So where is this colonial "violence" relevant?

The authors do mention eugenics. Because to keep a population alive in a place like Mars (or in my SV Hilda orbit, for rescue-ops; or on Venus' floaty farms...) would require some sort of genetic selection, as Tibetans do better in Tibet than do Chinese. The authors base their critique against that on... white supremacy. That would be news to this blog, which has proposed floating Zapotecs and New Guineans in Venus' farms, as best suited to low-atmo and high-temperature environments. Mine is a colonialism of indigenes. Mine is a colonialism to Empower The Global South at least some of it.

Since the article itself believes we haven't the tech to plant a colony onto Mars in the first place, one does wonder what they're even talking about. Asteroid mining? Where, again, there isn't life and where the "colony" would just be a mining camp that redeploys after a few months of ore-digging.

More likely is that this tiresome wordsalad is a communal ritual by professional academics with no actual skills in getting the job done. They show here that they are Not To Be Trifled With. They're shaking down the science departments - and the Dean, and whoever's allocating budgets.

Maybe the Chinese or the Russians or even the Indians will get out there first. Then these scholars can explain to Xi how they'd better let them share in the wealth or else they'll call him a racist. Nah, whom'm I kidding. Xi's likely funded the whole "ethical" enterprise already.

IN THE NEWS 10/24: Elysium. REBUTTAL 11/16: Zubrin. Where were you last month?