If I lived in space, quite frankly I would love the freedom to be able to move
about the Sol system at will and not be stuck at the bottom of some planet
or moon's gravity well. NEOs give that freedom like no other.

And spending months in space? They already do that on the ISS, and yeah,
yeah, they're in Earth orbit, but you already know what I am talking about.

Where's that pioneering spirit? Want every moment of life to be a cushy
breeze, Raoul? Shall we be like our brave ancestors or become the species
of game-playing couch potatoes we seem to be aiming for. Why bothering
exploring strange new worlds if it takes more than a few days, is that the
point being made here?

NEOs will really open up the Sol system and the rest of space to us. The
Moon and Mars have their purposes, but the latter especially will not get
us to the rest of the Cosmos like the NEOs will. They are the true stepping
stones.

Look, they can even help get people to your precious Mars:

http://www.newscientistspace.com/channel/space-tech/dn10358-hitch-hike-to-mars-inside-an-asteroid.html

And oh yeah, hollowing them out to make a colony or an interstellar
generation ship - two more good ideas from a ready made structure
in space.