@Cripplecreek
@Smokin Joe
I also see The Expanse as our future in the short term. I just hope the UN isn't running things here on Earth.
I think that is one of the things that appeals. This is technologically do-able in the foreseeable future, and conflicts are inevitable. Intrigue is part of human nature, with or without the protomolecule. There is always something to fight over, whether it is economics, control freak-dom (still economic roots), or resources.
I hope we can get rid of the UN, but if the alternative is something like
Venus of Dreams (Muslim dominated), I'd rather still be squabbling with the socialists than dominated by Islam.
When I consider we should have been there, doing that already, it is sad that the progs got so much traction when they did. Advances in materials tech and computing may well help us get out there, though, just 50 years too late for my liking.