And sure, I've seen that argument made, but not by anyone here in a really big way.

For me, returning to the moon is a good idea because it's a good place from which to look around, and because it's a reasonable place for us to get back into the swing of doing things we haven't done much of in the last few decades.

I have yet to see anyone who favors a return to the moon also saying that we should put all our eggs into one basket. And I haven't seen anyone in here say that resource exploitation is the number one reason for going back. We'll engage in ISRU in as much as it's practical, I suppose, but that's not why we're going.

IMHO, the simple fact that we can go to the moon is sufficient reason to do so. It's attainable, and it's worthwhile for what we can learn and for the skills we can (re)develop.

You Mars guys seem to think that some people here are saying "don't go beyond the moon," or maybe "don't go to Mars unless the path there goes through the moon," but that's not what I'm hearing at the 'Zone.

Like most here, I've read Zubrin and admire much about his drive and his work. I understand that linking Mars missions to lunar missions is not only unnecessary, but counter-productive. I get it. But I also think that the moon is a valuable target in it's own right, just as is Mars. We can learn things worth learning on the moon, and do things worth doing.

To my mind, becoming a spacefaring civilization doesn't just mean making a bee-line for the next atmosphere...it means learning how to live and work anywhere that it's possible to do so.