Human expansion evolves from pioneers who open new frontiers. The Western Hemisphere was invaded up because people wanted more than civilization was offering in Europe. The American west and Australia became frontiers for similar reasons and because many merely wanted to escape the confines of civilization. Any move into space is equal to a hesitant, tentative step into the ultimate frontier for human existence. The First Preliminary assignment directs students to consider what might force people to explore in escaping, in seeking answers, or in providing new perspectives for solutions to the problems that make our lives most difficult.
Pioneers inevitable forego almost all of the advantages of civilization that the rest of us eagerly seek and demand. Expansion into space will necessitate considerable strength of spirit, patience, hard work, and long-suffering. A space station or a lunar or Martian colony all demand living without any convenience. The Second Preliminary assignment is a kind of personal profile determining awareness of human needs, world development, and accepted comfort.
Should a Martian colony be established, the citizens will not have recourse to Earth and its authority. There may be stated connections, but those people will create their own society, culture, and civilization. What they left on Earth will have some (maybe great) bearing on the new order, but it will not be Earth. The Third Preliminary assignment is a consideration that launched Social Justice in the Liberal State by Bruce A. Ackerman (1980). The book's premise creates conditions not unlike those offered in The Martian Chronicles or in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy. Those conditions challenge our awareness of important concepts: justice, society, government, morality, and responsibility.
Imagine that you and I (and the rest of us) embark upon a voyage of discovery, forsaking our previous wealth and position to enter upon the quest. Coming unexpectedly upon a new world, we scan it from afar and learn that it contains only a single resource, manna, which has some remarkable properties. Most important, manna is infinitely divisible and malleable, capable of transformation into any physical object a person may desire. Further scanning reveals, however, that manna retains one basic similarity to familiar earthly elements--it is impossible to squeeze an infinite quantity of desired good from a single grain of the miracle substance. Indeed, there won't be enough manna to satisfy the total demands of all the members of our party. A struggle for power is inevitable. Nonetheless, things could be worse, and so we decide to make this new world our home.
As we approach the planet, the spaceship is alive with talk. Since manna is in short supply and universally desired, the question of its initial distribution is on everybody's mind. We instruct the automatic pilot to circle the planet for the time it takes to resolve the question of initial distribution and proceed to the Assembly Hall to discuss the matter further.
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