[ben_w]

Mars is significantly less hospitable than either the summit of Mt Everest or Antarctica; by developing the necessary tech to colonise Mars, you could re-populate the Earth after any environmental catastrophe short of the planet being physically dismantled.

One more immediate benefit is that the ability to refuel on Mars is identical to the ability to take CO2 out of the air and turn it into (un)natural gas.

Doesn’t do much for bigotry or inequality though.

[anoncake]

It's not about Earth, it's about the humans on it. Being able to repopulate Earth after they all died isn't all that helpful.

[TomMarius]

Then it seems beneficial to have some somewhere else

[anoncake]

No, not at all. That doesn't benefit the people who died.

[TomMarius]

Well you said it's not helpful because everyone would be dead, this response seems like moving the goalpost, also do you think these people will be born mostly on Mars?

[anoncake]

No, I'm not moving any goalposts. Nothing is helpful for dead people as they're dead.

[TomMarius]

If some of these people first moved to Mars and later back, obviously it helps them.