Space habitation will be a stabilizer for the future. Instead of fearing the future, we will look forward to it. I look forward to tomorrow and the change it will bring, but this is a rare opinion. So many people are caught up in maintaining the status quo. This is a problem, because the world is changing. I was frighten at first when I watched the TED talk Pete Alcorn on the world in 2200, but then I got even more hopeful.
Photo by ATIS547
We our population will drop as we reach the population cap. I can tell you now that the child-free movement is strong in my generation. It will alone increase as we hit that cap, are population will drop. If we do establish a space habitation, then the history humanity will not have been a slide down from the good old days. I'll argue that the days of space habitation will be on par with the days where humans lived in the Garden of Eden. At least comparable; giving humanity a sense that we are improving will make us a more confident specious. If humanity has a mindset that we are getting worst, then I doubt very many people would be motivated to do much.
Without space habitation, without the field of space, our future looks ugly. I dare you, I triple dog dare you to imagine a future without space. If you managed to do that, romantize it. It can be done, but space is a lot easier to get people excited about.
It will also allow people to prepare for the population decline. The moment space travel become affordable, everyone who can will move to the Moon or Mars. In my opinion, there will be a mass exodus. If money wasn't a factor in accessing space I would not find a single person who did not want to live in space... ok, their would be those who are sentimental about Earth and would stay and those who are hesitant because of safety, but that group would be outweighed by the people going.
In short, space habitation gives us a positive view of the future that will get us through the next 150 years.
