Humans are pushing their environment to the maximum, slowly killing the earth and depleting living space. Since humans enjoy diversity, moving to a lunar colony would provide the diversity in lifestyle that humans crave and may also help humans to perceive just how precious our planet is. Also, Earth is at great risk of being hit by a meteor or asteroid, for our society to survive we will have to move away from earth; which would require settling now (Asimov 23).
Although there are many risks in exploring and settling space, the benefits of a space settlement are too numerous for humans to not attempt this task. The educational standards in America will heighten as the educational system will begin to train people in new ways of thinking. Scientific knowledge will be gained from colonizing the moon, from the lunar research laboratories, and from creating new technologies to live in such harsh conditions. This increase in scientific knowledge will lead to answers to the age-old questions humans constantly ask, such as "How did the universe originate?" As the lunar colony grows, new job markets will emerge. It will be necessary for people to create tools, to support human living, to research, to maintain the colony and to run enterprises. New job markets coincide with new career paths; the opportunities for careers will be bountiful, increasing as the colony grows (Leahy).
If there are so many benefits to colonizing the moon, then why are humans still confined to the Earth's gravity? One of the main reasons is we are not prepared financially. The financial burden of space exploration has always been a burden on the government; unfortunately, the government will not be capable of providing the long-term funding required for a moon colony. The financial burden must be dispersed by allowing private industry to participate. However, private industry will not support a lunar colony unless there is a possibility for financial gain.
