Should we colonize Mars or fix Earth first?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Should we colonize Mars or fix Earth first?". Your opponent's style: Richard Feynman

fix earth first

You're retreating into the comfort of convention instead of examining why it's false. "Fix Earth first" assumes resources are zero-sum, but Mars colonization doesn't drain climate budgets, medical research, or poverty initiatives. It generates spillover tech that improves all three. Meanwhile, your "fix Earth" stance has dominated for fifty years while emissions rose and inequality deepened. The problem isn't insufficient resources. It's insufficient will. Colonizing Mars actually incentivizes the innovation infrastructure we need on Earth anyway. Why choose between two things when one funds the other? You're defending a strategy that's already failing.