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Comment by paxys | Hacker News Reader

Let's not pretend that any of these outer space treaties crafted in the 20th century and agreed upon by no one will be worth a damn when we are actually at a place where we can colonize planets. We have a hard time enforcing a climate agreement, and people think Mars will be governed by mutual understanding between countries/corporations?

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> outer space treadies... agreed upon by no one...

As of June 2020, 110 countries are parties to the treaty, while another 23 have signed the treaty but have not completed ratification. In addition, Taiwan, which is currently recognized by 14 UN member states, ratified the treaty prior to the United Nations General Assembly's vote to transfer China's seat to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1971.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty

Because its moot, and therefor free to agree to?

USA was party to the Paris Agreement until the day it wasn't. What were the consequences? What stops any of these 110 countries from leaving the second there is an incentive to do so?

Treaties tend to not have much meaning these days when you can just walk away on a whim without any consequence.

The latest example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_withdrawal_from_...

Assuming we are talking about a self sustaining colony on Mars, what about the right to self-determination? Do people really still accept that you can rule over a colony far far away? Plus, why bother? There is nothing on Mars that earth needs. As long as I can visit on vacation, why would I care what Government it has?

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