Carolyn and Keith Henson founded the L-5 Society.  It was the efforts of the L-5 Society and the Hensons' ability to bring together futique individuals which made Space Migration possible.

by Carolyn and Keith Henson

In the 16th century the Old World faced the challenging opportunity of colonizing a vast and rich New World.

Two psycho-social systems -- which we shall call the Anglo-Celtic and the Mediterranean -- set up civilizations in North America and South America respectively.  The differences between these two experiments in neuro-politics provide interesting perspectives for anticipating what will happen in the next few decades as the limitless riches of post-terrestrial space attract Old World social competition.

1.  The Anglo-Celtic psycho-social model is based upon:  individualism, democratic rule, open communication, free mobility, plurality of lifestyle, personal growth, tolerance of difference, encouragement of invention, competition, experimentation, creativity, decentralization, private enterprise, free-market exchange, distrust of military authority.

2.  The Mediterranean psycho-social model (derived from Oriental and Middle-Eastern philosophies) emphasized:  subordination of the individual to authoritarian hive-rule, restriction of communication (censorship), restriction of movement, controlled uniformity of lifestyle, discouragement of personal growth, rigid maintenance of herd-tradition, state monopoly, distrust of the inventive experimental approach, glorification of military control, centralization, collective enterprise, obedience to bureaucracy, suppression of difference.

A brief examination of the evolution of these two social models in South and North America provides instructive suggestions for the future of Space Colonization.

The technological and economic solutions necessary for permanent and highly profitable High Orbital Mini-Earths (H.O.M.E.S.) appear to have been adequately worked out.  The future to post-terrestrial Plan-It colonization now depends on resolving the soft-ware issues:  mobilization of public opinion supporting free migration; democratic access to available resources; political and cultural control; psycho-social models and metaphors to guide life in the new custom-made worlds.

The authors suggest that the best way to avoid the South Americanization of Space (i.e., the emergence of civil-service bureaucracies, military dictatorships, class struggles, centralized monopolies, impositions of standardized life-styles) is to re-examine the specific factors which led to the success of the North American model.  We recall the emphasis on individuality, the open invitation to migrants from every continent, the free communication which made possible a United States -- as well as a review of the obvious mistakes made by the North American pioneers.

The Space Settlement program will most gracefully harness the American imagination (and the aspirations of freedom loving people throughout the planet) if a deliberate attempt is made to recall, renew, reinvigorate and repeat the successful aspects of the Jeffersonian-Edisonian model.  Among these factors are the frontier expansive spirit, the independent, self-actualized western hero-heroine, the small gene-pool group seeking to live out a new vision, the need for adventure and calculated risk, the genetic imperative, and the melting-pot open-society mystique.

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