[KarlInOhio]

The method of settling New Caprica at the end of season 2 didn't seem rational. If they are planning to stay there, why did it still look like a refugee camp a year after landing. Why haven't they started building wood or stone houses by then? Or if they insist on living in tents, why haven't they split up some? If I had been crammed in a tin can in space for a year, the last thing I would want is having my tent wall within a hundred feet of anyone else's.

With no progress in an entire year, you would think that the camp was run by the UN (or at least by Mayor Nagin).

[discostu]

That's discussed in the link. The short answer is Baltar is a weak president that didn't provide the direction necessary to actually rebuild a society.

[Strategerist]

With no progress in an entire year, you would think that the camp was run by the UN (or at least by Mayor Nagin).

I think it's safe to assume that Baltar is a graduate of the Nagin School of Public Administration.

I can easily believe with incompetent and indifferent leadership they'd still be living in crapholes a year after settlement.

[ThinkDifferent]

In addition to Baltar being a lousy leader, they also lost 20% of the population and likely lots of supplies when the nuke went off. And New Caprica apparently doesn't have much in the way of natural resources.

[RogueIsland]

With no progress in an entire year, you would think that the camp was run by the UN (or at least by Mayor Nagin).

It was pretty clear to me that Baltar was an incompetent who was more interested in getting serviced in the presidential office, and that this lack of focus trickled down through the rest of the colony like a sort of decay. There was no organization and a lot of whiny factions. Seemed actually pretty realistic to me. Look at the citizens of New Orleans.