Mars myopia

Many people can't see living on mars. "It's too cold." "It's too toxic." "It's too barren." "It's too..."

They have the exact same problem as those described in "Where are the bicycles?"

People live a certain life and can't imagine another.

"It's too cold." Not in any mars home that has enough energy. People freeze on earth in some places when the power goes out and they are not prepared.

"It's toxic." Everything is toxic in the wrong proportions. You fix the proportions.

"It's too barren." Not in a Zubrin hobby farm. Martians will have shirtsleeve gardens. Seeds are perfectly designed for space travel. There will be no shortage of variety on mars.

"It's too..." I don't know. What? Expensive? To get there, yes. That's why you need a plan (see the motivations page above.) But once on mars, most things could be very inexpensive. Because mars has natural resources in abundance. Those could be easy or hard to get. The difference will be how well prepared the martians are. They need industry. Industry isn't magic. It's knowledge. Smart martians will take that knowledge to their new home. Capitalism is about creating machine capital and knowledge capital which makes everything cost less. Martians will not forget to have heavy equipment and other machinery... and machinists to make things. I know a printing operation that never buys any replacement parts (things always break.) Instead, when something breaks, they have machinists that immediately make a better than new replacement part.

People on mars will think differently because they will have to. We need them so WE can see.