Re: COLONIAL WEAPONS

At 3:55 PM -0600 1/29/02, Scott Clinton wrote:
>
>Absolutely, I agree.  Also, f you are going to basically abandon 
>your colonies...then YOUR colonies they will no longer be.
>
>I find it hard to accept that in 2150 "empires" will go to the 
>trouble of FTL traveling to other solar systems, mapping, preparing, 
>recruiting, outfitting, training and transporting colonists...just 
>to abandon them with steam engines and 200+ year old technology. 
>Sorry, I just don't see the economics in it myself.  Now, if you 
>want to say they are penal colonies, thats another matter (actually 
>there are cheaper ways of doing that too).

Well it does depend on the distance the colony is. Anything shipped 
out is going to be far more expensive than anything you can produce 
locally.

If they are there to mine raw materials as the basic reason for the 
colony (they build up other industries along the way to self 
sufficiency) then you're early shipments to the colony are going to 
be bringing in the most needed supplies. Things that they absolutely 
need there. Medical stuff seems to come first in my mind. Then food 
supplements and more equipment to expand the local industries. 
Eventually They'll be able to make everything they need, but I 
foresee a period of at least 50 years where many things aren't 
locally available and must be shipped in.

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