There is one thing getting headlines right now — space travel. More companies are working to privatize space travel, bringing people into space just because they can. It has caused a new wave of thinkers to consider what a future space economy could look like.
To envision this, they first think about what the Earth’s economy looks like. They consider its strengths and weaknesses and expand them out into the galaxy, thinking about how things would change. With whole new planets full of resources, how could people’s lives change?
Keep reading below to learn about how a space economy could take shape in the future!
The Space Economy Is Not Science Fiction
Jeff Bezos has taken spaceflights, orbiting around the Earth. He is followed by other billionaires eager to spread their metaphorical wings and fly around everyone. They want to become the stars that people see up in the night sky.
Every day, they take the world closer to a space economy. This is a kind of economy that used to be exclusively discussed in science fiction novels. It features whole new planets ready to be exploited and galactic turfs belonging to exclusive families and companies.
Despite science fiction’s glamor though, questions about future space economies ultimately mirrored questions about our economy now. How can people equitably create value and benefits despite the looming visage of corporate greed?
Most of all, how can countries be capable of understanding and managing space if they can’t understand diplomacy now, still on Earth? These questions are still unanswered, and they could be carried into the stars by billionaires.
How Do You Feel About Earth’s Economy?
If you’re trying to understand what a space economy would look like, you need to first understand what Earth’s economy is like. The richest countries usually have the poorest populations, since wealth is concentrated in the hands of billionaires. Meanwhile, other countries form oligarchs centered around specific materials.
A space economy could prevent the formation of these kinds of oligarchs, similar to ones seen around Arabian oil or Russian raw materials. With entire new planets full of resources, their power systems would topple. They would no longer be the sole providers of resources.
But it would not answer how economies could be fixed in countries like the U.S. These kinds of economies are closely related to political ideology and service. If anything, their problems could grow as the main cause of poverty and inequity in the country, billionaires, find new space to grow in the stars.
All That Can May Is the Size of Bank Accounts
It’s bleak to think that the birth of a space economy would involve massive poverty. But as private space travel grows and is treated more like a luxury, that seems to be its destiny. There are things people can do now to ensure a better future, though.
Most of it boils down to taking political action, taking steps to guide the future while it’s still being formed. Now is the time to act, and you can learn more about what the future may be like for the space economy from groups dedicated to shaping it.
A Better Economy Requires a Better Use of Resources
To make the space economy provide economic and societal benefits, things need to change now. Otherwise, the problems found on Earth will simply be exported into space. Nothing will change, and people will continue to languish in poverty, in the richest countries in the galaxy.
Food needs to be distributed more fairly, and welfare needs to expand. Raw materials cannot be centered in the hands of a few. Most of all, countries need to learn how to put people first, instead of fighting over petty ideological differences.
The space economy is still theoretical, and its future is far from certain. And to learn more about topics like this one, just keep reading our website!
