[deanhills]

I'm still pointing my finger to Capitalism as to the main culprit of the current state of affairs, without it, Earth resources can accommodate a lot more than the current 7.7 Billions souls. The overpopulation concept is a false problem when we're aware of the dynamics of Natural populations and how its size is regulated(/kept in check); it's basic ecological mechanisms at play.

For me capitalism comes from greed and leads to more greed and corruption. And those qualities come directly from the nature of human beings who are always competing with one another to get more and better. It's part of humanity to be like that, and humans have created a way of living where money means more is better.

You're right however, we're going off course here. Back to Mars. So I'd say humans are bright and resourceful enough to populate it one day, but their own extinction may predate that point in future where they would have been able to do it. If one looks at the awesome technical developments of the last few decades, their ability to get to Mars is a given. However at the same time earth has deteriorated rapidly as well, and has become almost unstoppable with the destruction having moved in a momentum of its own. If coward Government leaders don't do something about this soon, then the end picture is a given. And yes, maybe that will in its own right kill of a large portion of the population as well when they're unable to survive in intemperate climate conditions.