There are thsoe who are simply desperate at the pace and newness of the technological changes that are happening. They would do anything they could think of to stop it. To have stability.
Within a few decades we will have captured asteroids making the price of materials plummet. High capacity batteries will be very cheap etc.
By the middle of the second half of this century we will have space habitats with millions of inhabitants. Places of beauty and wonder. Heavens in the sky.
Don't get me wrong, I am a Space enthusiast that wants to double NASA's budget. Some days I say ten times. Which, as a % of the budget, would just bring it back up to where it was in the 60s.
First. most asteroids are not going to have anything we want. The potential is there, but you have to get out there, kiss a lot of frogs, before something of princely value turns up.
I am hoping hi cap batteries come along. I don't know enough to even guess, but they would be extremely useful in the transition to a global economy that does not run on carbon.
One of my dreams, something I have been waiting to see for half a century (and think it will be another half century before it actually happens), is a space station at L5. The problem is that it will be mind bogglingly expensive. Space is unrelentingly hostile. I think what we will need to do is take Moon dust, smelt it into sections that will make up the outside of the wheel. We will likely want to add some things, to the rock, to give it better impact resistance. We are talking one hell of a lot of money
There are all kinds of problems living in Space. The L5 station will be for scientists, technicians, people there for a reason. It wouldn't surprise me to see a little tourism, but the cost of living in Space is going to remain astronomical for a very long time.
Assuming I could live another 50 years, I would be ecstatic to see one real Space station with a 100 people.
I need to back the proverbial truck up a bit. To do that, we would need to develop a better way to get into Space. NASA doesn't even dare talk about that with the politicians. We would need a base on the Moon first. You don't hear much about that, either.
We keep embracing failure, and turning our back on the things that made us successful. I don't see that changing. Maybe China will be the one to do all that.
