> But new forms of resistance will arise. Xenophobia will be an
Not necessarily. If you have a million people on the equivalent of Asia, and I
have a million people on the equivalent of North America, it will be a long,
long time before we start crowding each other. Unless you discover the one
lump of UltraRarium on the planet, I don't see why anyone would bother
fighting.
Caveat: they may "hinder" each other in ways that don't involve direct combat,
e.g. sabotage.
Caveat: they may just do it out of sheer cussedness, or for political factors
not directly related to economics.
Caveat: there may be factors not immediately apparent. You may discover that
in fact there just the one convenient source of potassium, and your neighbors,
selfish curs, won't sell it to
you at a reasonable price. You have to have potassium, it's
not an option. I'm using potassium as an example, there are plenty of other
trace elements you can use if you feel potassium would be too easy to find to
make it worth fighting. You die just as dead if you're missing, say, selenium.
> From: "Laserlight" <laserlight@quixnet.net>
> More than one colony may be
Oops. Again, your objection to my point arises from my failure the first
time to articulate that point clearly. In this case, you read my cause as an
effect, and vice versa. I meant that the homeworld powers will pump bodies
into the colony because they're competing for the planet, NOT that they're
competing for the planet as a place to pump bodies. In fact, I had political,
strategic, and sheer cussedness reasons in mind MYSELF as reasons to oppose
sharing a planet. But from the point of view of the home power (not
necessarily of the colony, mind you), there is one significant economic reason
as well:
For a government or corporation sponsoring a colony, there are two main
"Pulls". One is a source of natural resources and raw materials, the second is
a market for goods. Those same colonists who mine the SuperDuperium for you
are also going to buy manufactured goods from you, especially at the
beginning when their own manufacturing capabilities are few or nil. Eventually
they will begin to make some things for themselves, but they'll still be some
of your biggest customers.
However, if there are two colonies on the same planet, from different home
nations on Earth, They will possibly develop slightly different sets of
resources and light industry. This means they will most likely have things to
offer each other, and begin trading with one another. The more they do this,
the less they'll be reliant on you for these goods and services, and the lower
your profits from the colony. As a corporation or government,
this is bad. Thus, you'll want to try to make sure your colony is the only one
on the planet. The more isolated it is, the more dependant on you, and the
more money you make off of them.
Historically, this was one of the sources of friction between England and the
American Colonies. As the Americans began to manufacture goods, England made
sure they did not compete with English goods, either in Eingland or
especially on the world market, by mandating that Americans could: Import only
FROM England; Export only TO England; Only ON English ships.
Brian quoth
> However, if there are two colonies on the same planet, from
Good point. Now, will your profits suffice to pay for the defense you need if
you destroy the other colony?:)