Conundrum Next Conundrum

marisaupa marisaupa

When colonization of space were to be possible, do you think that penal colonies should be set up just as they were on earth on new lands?

Interesting Question? Yes (1) No (0)
Email to a friend | RSS
No Best Answer Selected, Tip Refunded
5 answerers thought this was unfair.

Answers (5)
Sort By

keepontryi...
keepontryi...
November 15, 2009 11:22 PM
It sure wouldn't hurt my feelings any to send them. Maybe the Gitmo detainees could be sent out there. From what I learned in school (which may or may not be true), a lot of bad folks were sent to Australia, and from everything I can tell, they turned out pretty well.

What would really be cool is if you could win a decree of divorce sending your ex-spouse to the moon or a restraining order that says some stalker-type can't come within 35,000 miles, basically sending them to some mining camp on Mars.
Helpful Answer? (0)   (0)
Permalink | Report
Reply
vicgoodwin...
vicgoodwin...
November 16, 2009 06:38 AM
I think that might be a great way to have the work done as well as rehabilitate the criminal. Anyone that has to improve their own living environment tends to take better care of it and it could really turn some one around.
Helpful Answer? (0)   (0)
Permalink | Report
Reply
opher
opher
November 16, 2009 04:43 PM
The costs of training and sending anyone off Earth (and I don't mean by executing them, obviously) are so high, that setting up penal colonies off-planet does not make any sense whatsoever. There are plenty of remote and hostile locations on Earth where this could be done, if we even thought that penal colonies were a good idea in the first place. Historically, such were often used to get rid of political mal-contents and political challengers, which was morally and ethically wrong. Even when some of the deportees were genuinely criminal, it is very likely that the more violent among them used their violence against there fellows, without the protection that a more tightly regulated Earth-bound prison can and should provide for the non-violent inmates (though I understand this doesn't always happen).
Helpful Answer? (0)   (0)
Permalink | Report
Reply
pjmom23
pjmom23
November 17, 2009 01:48 AM
I agree with opher. Also, why should we give prisoners a chance at SPACE exploration for crying out loud, when there are hundreds of thousands of applicants trying to get into NASA who don't lead criminal lives.
Helpful Answer? (0)   (0)
Permalink | Report
Reply
philipy
philipy
November 21, 2009 02:44 AM
To give you a sense of the costs involved in space travel... the International Space Station has so far cost about $100 billion dollars. It is about the size of a four bedroom house.

It'd be kind of an expensive way to deal with prisoners, even if we thought it was a good idea. :)

For the forseeable future, space is going to stay a place for the best of the best that we send to explore the new frontier, and maybe some very very rich people that dream of space travel are willing to pay their own way.

The rest of us, if we work hard, are successful in our careers, and save our money for that dream trip into space, we just might get to experience it for a few minutes or a few hours.

But if anyone is proposing to sentence me to six months in space for committing an offence, I might just be tempted to over-ride my law abiding habits. :)
Helpful Answer? (0)   (0)
Permalink | Report
Reply

Answer this Question


View All General Questions

Ask a Conundrum


140 characters left

Categories

Large Glass of Conundrum Wine

Welcome to ConundrumLand

Please enter your zip code.