Lunar gateway is a first space station that will not be orbiting Earth. While current approach is inefficient, I assure you the challenge of building, launching, and operating such a craft will definitely push overall space capabilities further.
There are tons of serious problems to solve here on earth, no need for another huge waste of money.
I can state flatly that heavier than air flying machines are impossible. — Lord Kelvin, 1895
That money could be much better spent, like on tanks we will never use.
If we didn't have interest in space, there would be no SpaceX, Starlink, Mars rover, planetary missions, etc.
I personally think we're about to reach the terminal generation in 100-200 years with advancements in ML, and we won't be worried about sending human bodies anywhere. Just engines, sensors, and computers.