I'm with you! That debate has been around since the tumultuous 60's, and is largely the reason that the commercialization of space is the only way forward. Private money and enterprise. All those Spanish galleons that are lying at the bottom of the Atlantic came here for profit, albeit for the crown. If all they found were some bananas and mosquitoes, this would still be a country of natives. Spying, communication and geophysical data is the only interest our government has in space, and that's pretty much all we launch. Exploration is now left to unmanned projects that are much cheaper than what we saw with Apollo.