Economics and mind set

The cost to get to the surface of mars alive, using technology already demonstrated, is more than $50 million per person with most estimates being substantially above that. With that in mind the idea of colonization is laughable. It isn't going to happen. Even with Elon Musk of SpaceX saying he hopes to someday offer tickets for $500,000 means thousands of people that have already indicated they would like to go have no possibility of any success toward such a dream. Even if some few get to mars there wouldn't be enough to realize the potential of this new world. That's a pathetic reality that doesn't have to be. We don't have to wait for some new miracle.

There is a plan that allows anyone to go and arrive with the resources to pursue happiness. However, it does require a fundamental understanding of economics starting with...

All wealth comes from trade. Nothing has value until people value it. There is no such thing as intrinsic value. People create wealth by possession and trade. Mars has existing assets which are currently not being traded so they currently have no value but that can change. It has 144 million square kilometer of undeveloped (and currently worthless) real estate.

Here's where mindset is important. People have always had the legal right to make reasonable property claims when done by possession (this has historically always been true and is still true today. Officials will deny and obfuscate this truth but don't you let them. This is true even of property owned by others but neglected, so even more so for property nobody else owns such as the surface of mars.) Naturally other people will deny the right to those claims which must be defended and recognized so they become tradable assets which can grow in value over time.

Another economic fact is that something that may have value in the future may be traded today. Zubrin provides an example of mining land patents which is not entirely applicable since it requires a government sovereignty claim disallowed by the outer space treaty. This may provide a solution to the conundrum that we first need money to pay to get there, but you can't get there to claim possession until after you arrive. You may have notice too many 'mays' in this paragraph but other means are available as well. Courts have already made it clear that long range claims (such as landing a robot or otherwise) aren't going to be allowed.