Martian Homesteading Scheme

The Martian Homesteading Scheme (MHS) is a welfare program that is unique to the Pillow Fortress and, when fully implemented, will be one of the Principality's greatest achievements. Established by Royal Decree 00019 on 6 Zvingaire 4, the MHS entitles each and every Pillowan, by right of citizenship, to a nine acre plot of land in the Olympus Mons Colony, to be used however the individual chooses, subject to Fortressian law. Eighty-five percent (85%) of all Olympus Mons land not already placed under a conservation regime has been allocated to the MHS for distribution. Conservative back-of-the-envelope calculations estimate the number of available plots to range in the high hundreds of millions. This is enough to maintain the MHS for generations, even assuming a steady 100% population growth between cohorts in addition to high levels of immigration. The MHS is not intended to be a perpetual form of welfare, as eventually there will be no more plots to distribute. Its finite nature is a feature, not a bug, as the overarching goal of the MHS is to form a "middle economy" to bridge the gap between social terrestrial and eusocial celestial forms of production and organization, something which should be achieved well in advance of the scheme's closure.