To correct the inequality on Earth, the new Mars society will be designed using John Rawls’s thought experiment, including the veil of ignorance (John Rawls, Theory of Justice). Under the veil of ignorance, no one knows their standing or ability as they plan a society that works for all. By placing ourselves in the original position, all starting on an equal foundation, we believe we will develop a society that works for all.
The constitution will have an Equality clause structured around Rawls’s theory. Part of this clause includes housing assignments. People will not know where they will live until they arrive, and they will not have the final choice. Upon arrival to Mars, they will visit the monument and receive a housing assignment.
The monument will be a semi-circle shape featuring houses from Earth on the outer wall. As visitors walk around the monument, they will see various homes from million-dollar mansions to condemned mobile homes, highlighting the stark inequalities existing in housing on Earth. I have chosen specific images of houses that will highlight the wealth gap problem on Earth. After visitors walk around the monument, they will turn the corner to see a computer screen, where they will type in their family size. The computer will then generate an appropriately sized housing assignment. The houses built on Mars will not try to mimic those on Earth, and to avoid built-in inequality, they will all be comparable. Some houses will be stand-alone, while others will be shared spaces like apartments or duplexes, but all will be reasonably sized and of high-quality.
Each person to take this walk [around the monument] has already agreed to the Equality clause, but the photographs serve to remind them why this system is necessary. As people view the photographs, they may believe that the houses on Mars will have the same quality range.
The fear they feel that they might receive a housing assignment for one of the dilapidated houses demonstrates the negative feelings attached to poverty. In contrast, the hope they feel toward getting a million-dollar home reminds them how easy it is to romanticize inequality when you are the one benefitting. As they reach the selection computer, they will receive a reasonably-sized, quality home that is no better and no worse than any other house. The homes on Mars, designed to prevent inequality, are not a status symbol.
