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https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/

With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. Then, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.

>Therefore, I call upon the American people to embrace this challenge and to work tirelessly towards this goal. We must invest in research and development, inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers, and push the boundaries of what is possible.

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America can't afford it.

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https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html

The Artemis Accords will describe a shared vision for principles, grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, to create a safe and transparent environment which facilitates exploration, science, and commercial activities for all of humanity to enjoy.
More than a dozen countries have signed the Artemis Accords.

I'd rather fix the environment in earth, and achieve gender and racial equality before colonizing another planet.

What specifically are you doing to advance this goal of yours?

Exactly correct. Lets colonize other worlds so we can mess it up just as bad as ours.

Nah - lets fix our polluted world before we start ruining others

Far be it for me to downplay the importance of space exploration, but at the rate we're going, Earth will become uninhabitable to humans long before we have any realistic chance of colonising Mars.

I seem to recall reading that a population of about 100,000 would be needed to assure enough genetic diversity for the colonists. Building a shelter that could house that many, not to mention provide food, water, air and radiation protection would be a colossal undertaking.

Hell, just getting the required materials there would take years, and the price tag would be eye-watering.

Humans being humans, and this being a profit-free enterprise, I just can't see this getting the support it needs until it's far too late. A civil war over who gets to go before the project is even half way done seems far more likely.

Building public support is doing something. As is living your normal life with this purpose in mind. Personally, I'm reducing my consumer spending and donating to effective altruist causes, as I believe we need a functional civilisation to pursue goals like this which means addressing threats like climate change and also promoting a compassionate society which values the collective wellbeing. Real expansion into space may not happen for centuries, but the contribution our current society makes to that future, good or bad, will be enormous.

The best way to address any of those issues is providing sustainable economic prosperity, and the only way to achieve that is expansion into space.

Mars does absolutely nothing to ensure the survival of the human race. At best, you're condemning a bunch of colonists to a terrible death if something happens to mothership Earth. (or, much more likely, some petty squabble on Earth leaves the colonists to fend for themselves)

I know Elon said it all those years ago and then everyone else jumped on the bandwagon. But, it's a quite facile take on the issue that's more about wish fulfillment than reality.