I know plenty of talented, adventurous people who will FIGHT to be the first colonists on Mars. They will not care if it is a dangerous, one-way trip. Most of them are engineers and scientists.
No, they will not be “selected” by some government authority if its a private mission.
There are a few libs, lots of conservatives, but mostly libertarian leaning Spacers.
I worked in the space program and served the National Space Society (www.nss.org) during its infancy.
Many of my Spacer friends have devoted their entire lives to getting humans off this rock...permanently.
The Vikings did not colonize the New World because they lacked the ships and navigational technology to make it practical. By the time of Columbus, the technology had advanced...and then they discovered the gold of the Aztecs.
We already KNOW that the near Earth asteroids have fortunes in nickel, platinum group metals, and gold.
Humans WILL colonize outer space when the technology is there.
It should be OUR civilization and not the Russkies or Chinese who lead the exploration and exploitation of the High Frontier.
Yes, but kamikaze is a Japanese word. So is hara-kiri.