I asked, part two

lack of depth

That hurt, it's true, but it still hurt. But I take it as a challenge to do better.

I certainly do a bit of "hand waving" as well. I can't apologize for all of it, since at some point you have to stop when there's still more to say. There's always more to say. Yet, you don't want to leave the impression there isn't. So ya do.

Trent sums up with just show them, in other words actions speak louder. I agree; however, actions often take resources that I don't have. I can think about doing a great many things that I just can't actually do. Geeks in front of the computer screen may well describe many people, including poor old me. But aren't we free [geek] people? Yes, absolutely. I'm working on it.

I do think Trent had a swing and a miss describing the Open Source Ecology; while incomplete (with placeholders) they actually are showing rather than just telling. A couple of students that are not part of their farm have even built a tractor from their designs. Much of what O.S.E. is doing can readily be adapted to a martian industrial ecology. I think it's essential. It is also a lot of work.

Providing more depth is good advice which I will try to apply. However, I am just one person and not so arrogant to think I have all the answers. I could use help from readers that understand how important a task this is and support the idea of reasonable claims by possession of free peoples.

The easy part is getting to mars. That's just money. The hard part is figuring out how to deal with all the issues regarding living on mars. Not just survival but the social compact as well which should include individual ownership as a given.

Forgive me for hand waving, but I do think some are smart enough to do that...

The right mental model shared by the martians will allow them to thrive. Now that's deep hand waving!

Part One, Part Three.