<ankh> wrote:Once earth can populate the moon - and they actually start to populate it - earth should imo elect a goverment to "rule" our moon. Atm there are very few who can do space travel and letting them divide the moon would be unfair against other countries that might not be able to go there for a long time still.
/Ankh
What about the (potential) "Moonians" ? Don't they get to have their own government ?
My preference would be more than one independent moon government, but for the time being having it split between multiple Earth based governments would be reasonable. This prevents any one power from completely controlling it.
Also, by "Earth should", who do you mean, the UN?
In any case, a single world government would be a disaster for freedom. Competition between governments is what keeps us free. Handing the UN the universe (juristiction of everything except Earth) would be a disaster.
Nobody has the right to the moon except those who can get there. Also, it doesn't matter that much who the government is as long as they are reasonably free and respect property rights. People who want to go can just buy land there.
Anyway, the Moon could be considered a special case. However, it is the one of the most valuable piece of off-Earth real estate. Not allowing people to own it will mean that it gets under used.
What is your view on the other planets ? Should states be allowed to claim territory on Mars.
What is your view on things like comets/asteroids etc ? (I assume you agree that they should be claimable by the first person to get to them?)
What about a rule that you can claim a 100km circle centered on your landing site and no state/alliance can claim more than 1/3 of a moon or planet. Also, once a planet/body hits say 1/10 the population density of Earth Today, it must be given independance.
Finally, what is you view on current states, all of them were created by someone in effect saying "I claim this" or winning the territory in a war.