Space exploration gets such a small fraction of our resources as it is.

I agree we can invest and function better in other domains also. It's just not a choice we have to make; we easily have the bandwidth to do all of it.

And the practical benefit to space exploration or readiness is non-zero right now. Satellites, defense (from others but also celestial objects), climate science. The future hypotheticals, your "Sci fi", may one day be added to this list.