What are we waiting for?

We've never had liberty. When the pilgrims arrived in 1620...

...some of the passengers proclaim[ed] that since the settlement would not be made in the agreed upon Virginia territory, they "would use their own liberty; for none had power to command them..."

This could not be allowed, so the Mayflower Compact, signed aboard their ship, would allow some to rule all. It seemed simple enough...

combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; ...  such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

Is submission and obedience good for the colony? Let's say you have a colony of two. Which should be master over the other? Now three; should one be the slave of the other two? Liberty, ownership and free trade requires no masters or slaves. True consent (no force allowed) benefits everyone.

400 years later, this same choice is ours again. No government cares about mars because it's too far. This is an opportunity. The first colonist can choose liberty, strong property rights and extremely limited government (because really strong property rights means no eminent domain, no taxes, etc.)

Liberty has never been tried. We need the home of the braver, willing to truly be the land of the free. What are we waiting for? I'll tell ya.

To get to mars we need a lander. Mars One has it on their schedule if they get the funds. SpaceX has the design which needs to be produced and tested. Not having a lander is a show stopper. If the lander meets specifications ($190m/2500kg) we have a surcharge of $76k/kg for anything imported to mars from earth. This is potential wealth for any colonist that arrives according to the settlement charter. New colonists may trade some of their goods knowing it has great value if not the entire value of the surcharge.

Before the lander is ready we can proceed with another requirement. The refuelable ship that will take them to mars orbit where they will transfer into the landers that take them to the mars surface. That ship is a profit center before taking anyone to mars. It should be taken on shakedown cruises around the moon to be certain they are good enough to take colonists to mars orbit. These shakedown cruises are themselves a potential source of profit. This should be done now.

Are we brave enough to grab hold of real liberty? Time will tell.

Profit is one reason for going to mars. It is profitable now, but it does require someone with vision and resources to pay for it.