Canceling NASA's plans to return to the moon is short-sited and a great loss for all of us.
Why you say? Because returning a presence to the moon would provide the world a vision of something greater than themselves. Just like the original moon landing did in the 1960's and 70's. Its not about priorities. Its not about money. NASA really doesn't spend that much compared to every other government bureaucracy such as the dept of education, environment, health etc.
You say we should focus on solving the problems we have here first. It doesn't matter. The cost of NASA hasn't stopped us from solving anything. If we really wanted to solve our problems we would. This is about where we are going.
The faint light from an international outpost on the moon would be a uniting value that everyone in the world would feel. Imagine growing up being able to see the jeweled lights of cities on the moon. It would inspire the world for a thousand years.
