because the average man doesn't care about space. Space travel may be interesting, but for most human beings, it is a luxury and a fairy tale which will not (in their lifetimes, at least) ever do them any good. Once they connect personal sacrifice or effort on their part (say, in higher taxes or in higher costs related to resource consumption) to the space program, it will always be seen the way war is...an extravagant game with very few winners except for those who administer it. I don't believe that myself, but most people do. Rich countries can indulge in expensive national hobbies like space travel. Once times get hard, people quickly lose interest. In America and Russia, enthusiasm for space was always mixed in with national prestige and defense. Once the Space Race was over and the economy cooled down the country (not the government, or the business community) lost interest.

I was the only space groupy in a family of working class people who enjoyed the spectacle and excitement of space travel but quickly came to resent it when they realized the waste and cost associated with it. Although they encouraged my own interests (they felt it could get me a better job when I grew up) they felt that for the nation and the world, and for them, it was a waste of time and money when "There's a lot on this planet that needs to be done first". You know the spiel, we've all heard it before, and we all have noble long-term arguments to refute it. But lets face it, most people only care as long as they don't perceive it costs them anything. They don't care about the long term future of the species. Most people worry about tomorrow, and about their kids. The species can take care of itself.

My family selected for adventure and travel, they chose to leave Europe and come to the New World. Then they chose to leave Cuba and come to the USA. I come from a long line of immigrants and risk takers, but they never took to my interests in space travel. They felt it was a waste of time on a personal level, and certainly on a societal level, and they never failed to remind me of it. I was just a goofy kid with his head in the clouds, but maybe some day I "might be able to teach". You have no idea the family dramas that erupted when I announced I was going to major in astronomy. Good Cuban boys study to be doctors, lawyers, architects, or failing that, engineers. But astronomers? It was received with the same enthusiasm as if I had picked fashion design or puppetry, or real estate investment counseling. "Serious men, REAL men, don't do that for a living."

Everybody believes in a strong defense, but King Charles' naval construction program cost him his head, changed England to a parliamentary government, doomed the landed aristocracy and ushered the growth of the middle class and the industrial revolution. Expensive national projects can have unforeseen consequences. Developing space until it becomes self-supporting is going to be very expensive, whether it is done by the State or by the oligarchy. And sooner or later, those who really pay the bills have a vote