Re:US support to maintain UK's nuclear arsenal is in doubt
by somenameforme on Sunday March 09, 2025 @01:37AM
(#43306810)
Even on Earth colonies would be unlikely to be targeted. Nukes are limited, valuable, and going to be expended on targets in order of priority. For instance Peurto Rico would be extremely unlikely to be a target because it's just a completely worthless target in spite of having millions of Americans. Even from a morale crushing perspective, Americans do not consider Puerto Ricans Americans, in the same way that 'Martian Americans' will not be considered Americans for those living stateside. You'd achieve nothing.
In a world with colonies, those colonies become nuclear targets. You may not even have to expend a juke—just ram a ship into it.
My point is that the same logistics that would sustain a Martian colony make striking it easier. Mars isn’t a solution to war on Earth. It’s a long-term insurance policy against planet-wrecking accidents, whether natural or human.
As for viruses, it’s like someone millennia ago arguing that humans expanding to more continents reduces the risk of disease. Yes, for a bit. But the same factors that enable that expansion make global pandemics possible.