[quote:ad8bf87644="Garner"]...............Heinlein gave us 'TANSTAAFL', an acronym for 'There aint no such thing as a free lunch.' in one book, we see characters have a falling out over whether or not air should be freely available or 'rented' on the moon. Remember, even though its essential for life, it's not actually found on the moon and would be costly to import or produce.

So, does the 'government' owe life giving necessities for people who choose to live on a barren lump of dead rock? Or should those people pay for their chit... 'have you earned your air today?' was a joke slogan in a dilbert strip but it could only be a joke if air's a natural resource.

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I'm surprised I didn't spot this before, but on re-reading the thread - because someone has just posted to it - in the case you mention, these were not people who had chosen to live on a barren rock - they were transportees - even the Warden was clearly a political exile - so the situation is not the same - it is more like the concept that if you put criminals/terrorrists (careful Pixel - getting a bit political here!) in prison on Earth, are you not obliged to supply them with food and water? Even transportees to Australia, as an example, had an ecosystem that would support them.