[Alberta's Child]

Most of the Earth would not meet your criteria for being survivable if we were restricted our our natural state.

I'm not sure I would agree with that -- at least in terms of the land masses of the world.

America was settled because it had great resources and a small amount of government.

It's kind of comical to read this on a thread about something that was one of the largest government boondoggles in the history of mankind. There's a reason why NASA ran the space program, not Grumman or Boeing.

[driftdiver]

“I’m not sure I would agree with that — at least in terms of the land masses of the world. “

Depends on your definition of natural state. Clothes, heat, buildings?

All tools created for protection and environmental accommodation. Without those items the population would be limited to a very small strip of land around the equator.

So its really just a matter of whats an acceptable level of accommodation.

The space program was expensive but has had enormous benefits. Hardly a boondoggle.