I just had a thought...
For those not in the know, there's a plan out currently to try to start a small colony (4 people) on Mars by 2023. Every 2 years after that, they would add a couple more people, and all of them are to live permanently on the surface.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2405162,00.aspThe thing is, the first people up might be Reality TV contestants.
"The first people to colonize Mars might be reality TV show contestants. No, this is not a joke - it's a tremendously ambitious, eyebrow-raising plan devised by Dutch company Mars One."
http://www.gizmag.com/mars-one-human-settlement-2023/22799/So this has me pondering. What if there is a conspiracy, a hidden Illuminati-like group, that truly keep to the ideas of "Illumination" from the Enlightenment... but seeing a new dark age in the common public, have fostered the idea of Reality TV, with the end goal of getting us into Space? After all, there's very very few other reasons why the Public would support the idea -- sure, rich people will want to pay to become tourists, but that might spark envy in the common person. No, this way, the average person can dream of being a Reality TV show contestant -- something everyone can try to participate in, even if only a handful of people make it.
Which makes me think: That is one awesome conspiracy group.
And if you all feel this should have been placed in General Discussion, then probably best to move it, but I thought this idea (that I'm not serious about, it just struck me) was an amusing little conspiracy "theory".