[ It's a good question, and while Jack has followed the political climate of this city with mild interest, he's already had enough of that kind of thing to last him a lifetime. So he doesn't necessarily read up on all of it as closely as he should. ]

Probably because the corporations are too greedy to put the funding into it that it needs. So the people there have got bad living conditions, and they're not sending up people who've got the actual skillsets they need to settle Mars properly.

[ Seems like a waste at that point, but no one asked him, and he shrugs.

After a pause, he gives the stranger another once-over and then extends his hand. ]

Jack, by the way.