I'm reminded of A Canticle for Leibowitz: space colonies were built for nationalistic reasons, and none of the promised economic benefits to their founder nations ever materialized. The only good they did was act as a lifeboat for humanity after the people on Earth destroyed themselves in a second nuclear holocaust.

Why do you think Bezos and Musk want to be in control of the first colonies?!

They want the first seats outta here when we fuck up big!