Humans are resourceful, and figure out things. Resources are not a problem, provided the free market is allowed to operate and figure out those things that need to be figured out.
Even in precision farming, where some of the greatest automation innovations known to man exist, there is still plenty that can only be done by a human
It's not a space problem. It's a resource problem, and it also doesnt get bad until like 20-30 billion. Which is less than one gen away.
OR
It's about automation coming to take away most of the labor jobs that makes a high population possible and useful. Idk.
You assume that the Elites haven't been holding back Free Energy for decades upon decades now.
Humans are resourceful, and figure out things. Resources are not a problem, provided the free market is allowed to operate and figure out those things that need to be figured out.
Even in precision farming, where some of the greatest automation innovations known to man exist, there is still plenty that can only be done by a human