"People don't just wake up one day and say to themselves, "We should skip the Moon and go directly to Mars". There's an evolution in one's understanding about Space Exploration that brings one to that conclusion. Fifteen years ago I was advocating that we should use the Moon as a stepping stone to Mars. However I did something that gbaikie and many of the other Moon people are incapable of doing: I listened to what other people were saying and tried to rationalize my own beliefs. In doing so I realized that for sound technical reasons we can not justify colonizing the Moon or engage in economic based activity there. I am convinced that if an intelligent and educated person thinks about this problem long enough (years? decades?) then he/she must come to the same conclusion."

Well, I haven't been interested/advocating Space for 15 years, not even 10. And I will certainly concede you have much more experience in the subject of space. But I DO listen to what other people say. In the beginning of my short history- I was first sold on the idea of using NEOs- mainly because of their low delta-v requirements. And I saw what we didn't know about NEOs as a "opportunity", e.g. there COULD be NEOs very near us (in terms of delta-v) which were highly concentrated in iron, or rare metals, water, or whatever. I thought bringing a few of these objects into Earth/moon system would be "the answer". A few million tonnes of water in a Earth orbit would "change everything". I still think it would change everything, but I have been persuaded by arguing with others that perhaps this isn't a workable way to get space development started.

From my beginning of my interest in space the question was "Why aren't we there yet?" which leads to the question "How do we get there". I could go on at great lengths explaining the "Why and How", but I really have no burning desire to practice my typing and I am INTERESTED. So:
Why aren't we there yet?
How do we get there?
-gb