Society and Government:
How can we Avoid the Same Mistakes on Mars?
Presented to the Second Annual Mars Society Convention
Boulder, Colorado. August 12 - 15, 1999
By Erik Carlstrom
Department of Physics
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon, USA

Abstract

1. Introduction

At one time or another, every piece of land on the Earth has gone through a colonization period. Even the first human beings had to colonize land. Even the early nomadic tribes in the Fertile Crescent had to adapt to the environment. They had to seek shelter during storms, they had to search for food, and they had to develop their culture in order to flourish and multiply.

Some recent examples of colonization are Canada, Mexico, South Africa, India, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. These colonies were established by men and women who set out on wooden ships to seek out their fortunes and to experience something new. In the future, exploration and colonization will not take place on this planet we call Earth, but it will be among the other planets of this solar system and the stars that have intrigued man since the beginning of time. At this point in human history we must look to where our future lies, and that is Mars.

2. An Historical Look at the Goals of Colonization

When colonization of the Americas began, the nations of Europe were at war with each other. Members of the population were being oppressed and the monarchy wanted to expand their wealth by taking advantage of the newly discovered Americas. During the early colonization of the Americas, the major powers involved were Spain, France, and England. All three countries wanted to control the enormous wealth that the Americas represented. The early explorers found gold and a wealth of resources, such as timber.

The goals of colonization in the Americas varied depending on the country involved. During Spain's period of expansion and colonization, she was only concerned with the collection of wealth. Her goals was to expand by any means necessary. The Spanish took this expansion so far to the extreme such that the explorers were known as Conquistadors. Originally the Portuguese became involved in the colonization efforts, but eventually they came into allegiance with Spain. The French and English, on the other hand, were also interested in the gold, but they had more pressing concerns for their survival. The French needed to expand their trade routes to aid their economy. They went to where there were navigable rivers for an expanding fur trade. They also sought out large areas with strong timber for use in constructing new ships. The English on the other hand, had a serious lack of natural resources to support their people. They sought out raw building materials for ships in their constant warring with mainland Europe.

When these countries began colonizing the Americas, each one had its own distinct idea as to who would go to the new world. Spain sent her military leaders. Spanish colonies had a distinct military lifestyle and used it to their advantage in expanding her lands. The Portuguese were pure explorers, under Prince Phillip the Navigator. France sent traders and explorers to the Americas. England sent entrepreneurs and unwanted members of society, along with her nobles. The English colonies had several different patterns. There were the official royal colonies, Virginia and the Carolinas for example. Then there were colonies made up of unwanted members of society, Massachusetts and Rhode Island for example. However, most colonies were not made up of one type of person; variety was the norm in the English colonies.

2.2 Asia and the South Pacific

Colonization in Asia and the South Pacific was much different than what took place in the Americas. Ever since the first travelers to the orient returned to Europe with such exotic goods as silks and gun powder, Europeans had a strong desire to gain these riches. The early expeditions to the orient were made over land, and were not that significant in size. Once sailors traveled around the Cape of Good Hope and through the straits of Magellan, travelers from Europe began to go to Asia by Ship, and were able to load ships full of the riches of the orient.

When colonization began, the European countries involved were more interested in developing an area of influence to expand their economic resources. The three largest powers in this region were the Dutch, British, and Spanish. The Dutch settled in Malaysia, Indonesia, and had some influence in China and Japan. The Spanish settled in the Philippines and surrounding islands, and had influence in China and Japan. The British settled in Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, and had a strong influence in China.

The goals of colonization in the orient were quite clear. The players involved needed to expand their influence and resource base, and the Catholic church wanted to expand throughout the world. The Dutch took a different approach than the traditional acquisition of territory that the other major powers did. The Dutch set up extensive import/export centers. The English, however, took a more traditional approach of taking over the land and imposing their government and rule over the local populace. The Pope had a strong desire to expand his influence also. The Catholic church began to pressure the countries which it had influence over (France, Spain, and England until Henry VII) to set up Missions in the territories that they would explore. At this time the Church had economic reasons, rather than just spiritual, to pursue this goal.

As the European powers expanded their influence, colonization began to change to the establishment of "Sphere's of Influence." By this time, America, Japan, and Russia had joined in the colonization and expansion of power and influence in the region. This was most evident in China, which arose from the Opium Wars of the late 19th century. In China, cities and sometimes regions of the country would be under the Sphere of Influence of a certain foreign country. For example, Shanghai was split up among Russia, America, Japan, France, and England. Each country would utilize the populace to create goods for trade, and would import goods to the region for the sole purpose of forced consumption.

2.3 Africa

Colonization of Africa was focused primarily on only a couple of regions. The continent was very large, and Europeans found it very difficult to live in. The major players involved in African exploration and colonization were France, England, and Holland (the Boers).

The early goal of the colonization of Africa was to support the slave trade until it no longer existed. As time went on, the goals of colonization changed to the accumulation of resources. After the initial exploration Africa was found to be rich in mineral wealth, especially diamonds and other gemstones. Much later on, it was found to be an abundant source of oil and precious metals.

The French primarily settled in regions near the Equator. The English Settled in the northern and southern regions. Along with the English, the Dutch settled in the South (primarily in modern day South Africa). Conflicts over resources and land were mostly concentrated in the South, an example being the Boer War fought between the Boers (Dutch) and the English from 1899-1902.

3. The Factors Involved in Colonization

America, North and South, is the most diverse region in the world. These two continents span more areas of latitude than any other single region. Two important factors involved in colonization of the Americas are the climates and the native populations. When Europeans came to the "New World," to set up colonies, they encountered environments and diseases that they had no experience with. For example, the colonists of Jamestown had no experience with swamps and the diseases that flourish in that environment. As a result, a large number of colonists died during the colony's first year of existence.

The European colonists had to deal with a native population that no one knew how to communicate with. Conflicts between colonists and the native population occurred over misunderstandings and breaches of protocol that one side was not familiar with. Colonists also had different attitudes toward the native peoples. The Pilgrims treated the local tribe of native Americans with respect, but the Spanish Conquistadors violently exterminated tribes in their pursuit of glory and gold.

The biggest factor involved in colonization anywhere was the expansion of economic power and resources; this was most evident in the Americas. For the Spanish, they sought gold, and this influenced where they explored and colonized. They concentrated on areas where the local population had discovered areas of gold, and colonized there. The English needed raw materials to support their industry and military. They concentrated their efforts in the North Eastern region (the original thirteen colonies and Canada). They needed the timber and other resources that were abundant there.

3.2 Asia and the South Pacific

In the Orient, the biggest, most important factor involved in expansion was economics. Wars were fought over consumers. It can be said that every major conflict in the region (up to the middle of this century) has been fought over economic opportunities.

Around the period of major expansion in the orient (1700's to late 1800's), the Spanish empire was on the decline. They were unable to continue to expand their influence in the region. The Dutch and English were becoming increasingly competitive, with the Dutch influence becoming less an less. It was also about this time that the British Navy came to be known as "Mistress of the Sea," due to its extremely strong influence and power. There was no stronger power in the world than the British navy, and they needed to expand their power in order to keep things running. If the British Navy where to remain strong, England needed to expand her coffers. The only way to do this was to expand their influence. This led to further expansion in all areas of the globe, but it was most evident in the Orient.

When England began to set up its sphere of influence in China, it was faced with an economic dilemma. It had a large surplus of Opium and no one to sell it to. The British and Chinese were both aware of the addictive nature of Opium and didn't want to inflict it upon their people. The British were more powerful and needed the economic benefit of selling the Opium, and the Chinese refused to buy the British Opium. So the British forced it upon the Chinese through the resultant conflict called the Opium wars. This was a clear cut example of the expansion of power by a country in a foreign region, due to economic factors.

As another example, the US annexed the Philippines at the end of the Spanish-American War to facilitate the expansion of their Naval power. Most historians state this example as the swing of influence in the military towards the theories of Mahan, but they ignore the fact that several major corporations immediately "set up shop" in the Philippines (Dole pineapple for example). Roosevelt and others in the War department and Congress, saw the opportunity for economic expansion, along with their desire to utilize Mahan's ideas.

3.3 Africa

In Africa, the three factors involved were the environment, the native population (including the European attitude towards the natives), and eventually the enormous wealth of natural resources. Each factor involved came about in stages, first the environment, then the native population, and ending with the natural resources.

Although Europeans were not the first explorers to reach Southern and Eastern Africa by sea, they had the greatest and longest lasting impact on the region . Europeans, in the Romans, first traveled to North Africa and found the region to be mostly desert. Later on, other European countries traveled to Western Africa and found a tropical area that was extremely hot, and full of new diseases spread in ways that the Europeans did not understand. When they finally reached the Southern and Eastern regions, they found more tropical areas.

Almost at the same time that Europeans had to deal with the new, unfamiliar, and hostile environment of Africa, they had to deal with the new tribal races that were encountered in the West, South, and East. The natives in these regions all had black skin, and had very primitive cultures in comparison to those of the Europeans. The Europeans did not understand them, and in fact feared them. The predominant attitude was that they were animals. This view led to the slave trade, which lasted centuries.

As colonization spread out into Central and South Africa, mineral deposits were being found with regularity. So many were discovered, that stories of King Solomon's mines and other legends began to circulate through Europe. This gave a boost to colonization efforts that became a contributing factor to the Boer War. This was not limited to just the South and Central regions of Africa, however. Large petroleum deposits were discovered in Libya, Tunisia, and Algiers (to name a few countries). Large metal ores were found in South Africa. All of these factors helped shape the countries involved.

4. What Can We Do?

4.1 The Structure of Government

The first colonists to Mars will undoubtedly be scientifically oriented. After the first colony is set up on Mars, there will eventually be a transition from a scientific outpost to a more varied background of people. Once this begins to occur, a government of some kind will need to be formed. In order to prepare for this, we need to look at what type of government will be needed and most appropriate.

Since the colonization of Mars will be done on a global scale, some form of global government should be set up. However, due to the nature of the land area, a strong central (global) government doesn't make sense. Local townships should have control over what they do. As an analogy to the past, strong "State's rights," should be the norm This would also allow each township or region to decide on what form of government they will have.

In order to allow diversity to grow and be maintained, all forms of governance should be allowed on the township or regional level. If there is a group of people who believe in communism, they should be allowed to start their own town governed as a commune. If there is a group of anarchists, they should be allowed to have their town non-governed. If there is a group of capitalists, then they too should be allowed to have their capitalistic haven. The form of local government is not important. What is important, is that each town respect the rights of other towns. In order for this to work, there would have to be a weak central government that is allowed to debate issues that towns have with each other, and that Mars has with the Earth and any future colonies.

4.2 Ownership and Affiliation

When we deal with ownership and affiliation (political and everything else), we need to address the following six questions:

1. What should be allowed as property?
2. What type of land can be used, and for what?
3. What type of political parties should be allowed?
4. Should townships be allowed to affiliate themselves?
5. Should land ownership by Earth corporations be allowed?
6. What should Earth corporations be allowed to do?

What type of political parties should be allowed is a question of how the system should work. If we look at some of the political systems today, we see that some governments have party systems that can dictate who can control a legislature. This causes problems. As legislators ally themselves on party lines, they have a tendency to vote along the party platform, and this can cause more harm than good. Two powerful parties can end up bickering over little things and cause good legislature to be held up or destroyed over small details. Parties should be allowed, but only in the sense that a party is a collection of like-minded individuals who are giving each other (non-financial) support.

As for township affiliation, this should eventually be allowed, once the population and density of townships reaches a certain level. This would allow setting up a better organization for services. Until the population grows to that level, there is no need for affiliation. Affiliation early on would be detrimental to the global population. States, or countries would form, and we would be repeating history. If affiliation were to be allowed that early, situations could arise that might lead to conflicts of some kind. Any conflict is undesirable, and should be avoided at all costs.

Independence from Earth should be established early. This would mean that corporations from Earth would not be allowed to own land, outside of the local towns offices. If we allow corporations to buy up all the land, we lose control over the situation. Politics than begin to be dictated by corporations who only see the bottom line as being important. Investment by Earth corporations should be allowed, however; this will stimulate growth in a capitalist society through an expansion of the market. Mars would open up new markets for Earth corporations to take advantage of, they just wouldn't be allowed to control the situation. The government of Mars should not become a puppet government for some corporation on Earth.

4.3 Society

When a new society and culture develops, several things can be done to influence how it is shaped. Some ways it can be influenced are the layout of towns, law system and enforcement, diversity, and type of government.

When the initial settlements are set up, there will most likely be a few clusters of small settlements. As time goes on, they should spread out. The more spread out the developing townships are, the more likely they will develop their own culture. In the beginning, townships will be dependant upon each other for shared resources, such as food, water, fuel, and air. Once a more stable infrastructure is set up on Mars, then people should be encouraged to set up more isolated townships.

In any area were colonization or expansion has occurred, one important item that cannot be ignored is the law. Some form of law will be needed on Mars. Looking at the system that was used in the old west, we can see that whoever enforces the law can have difficulty completing his job. The "sheriffs" on Mars must be trustworthy individuals that the majority of people agree on. They should not be selected by the current form of politically interested members of society; this only encourages corruption. Instead, some sort of lottery system of volunteers should be allowed. As for the law itself, it should be set in place to guarantee all of the basic rights of everyone, from speech to privacy.

Another item is diversity. This must be dealt with on the side of Earth. Those governments and corporations who send colonists to Mars should ensure that they send a wide variety of individuals. It is important enough that it should be mandated as a priority within the space community. It would not be healthy to have an all white colony, or an all black colony, or an all Asian colony, or an all American colony, etc. This would be dull, for one thing, and could be disruptive in the future. We don't need an environment to foster prejudices of any kind.

As stated earlier, the type of government on a local level should be chosen by those most affected by it; namely the members of that township. As for the central government, it should be some form of democracy, whether it is an oligarchy, direct, or representative. A democracy allows all people, towns, and regions to voice their opinions, and avoids allowing any one group to have complete control over the planet. However, in order to ensure that the environment of Mars is taken care of, some governmental body will be needed to enforce environmental laws and statutes. This is the one area that should be centralized and extremely powerful. Once terraforming projects begin, some organized body will need to have the authority to lay out guidelines for all terraforming efforts.

5. Conclusion