[ WP ] The death penalty has been replaced by a one way trip to Mars .

They stopped calling it a `` death penalty.'' Those liberal lawmakers finally got their way. Outright killing of mature human beings was suddenly considered a form of cruel and unusual punishment, but they decided that *exile* would be just fine. 
 
 The first few waves of arks arrived filled to the brim with supplies and criminals, but I thankfully was n't among them. 10,000 criminals sent alone to a cold rock without a society is a recipe for disaster. Despite killing each other on a regular basis, they managed to set up some cursory habitats and start the mining processes. They were n't building up or out this time. They built down. All that remained on the surface were solar panels. I remember the mortality rate was nearly 90 %, which was just fine with the Terrans. They considered their hands washed of the blood. 
 
 You'd be surprised how quickly society evolved here on Mars. The founders of our government did have some fine examples upon which to improve. They decided to go with a social democracy; there were few enough citizens and plentiful technology that there was no representation. Everyone cast an individual vote, and it worked shockingly well. Perhaps not so shocking considering any newcomers who did n't want to participate were faced solely with the prospect of walking out an open airlock. 
 
 I made the trip in the fourth wave of arks. Wo n't bother you with the details; let's just say I deserved to be on that ship. Every one of us was allotted a certain quantity of materials with the expectation that we would eke out our own existence, but that was n't quite how it happened once we'd landed. A Mars citizen gave us a briefing, and all of our supplies were confiscated to be meted out amongst the population as needed. I was given a bunk, and a list of possible employment. It took a bit, but I finally came around. It's been a satisfying life. 
 
 Now the problem is the damned immigrants. Earth has n't been faring well with the burden of overpopulation, pollution and global warming. People want to emigrate somewhere to make a better life for themselves. Hardly a day goes by when you do n't see a couple illegal landers burning in across the sky. There've been some discussions on what to do about the undocumented people arriving on our planet, even thoughts of a damn space wall, but no consensus has been reached. At some point we'll reach critical mass and have to enact some policies, but I honestly do n't mind the Terrans. They're doing honest work for pay that no Mars citizen would consider accepting. Plus, we have no way of rounding them all up and sending them back to where they came from. 
 
 ( Thanks for reading this. I've always wanted to submit one of these! )
