I tend towards a variation on utilitarianism, from that point of view energy in a finite universe that could be used to support intelligent life in some way, but isnt, is unethical, and while that might not really demand much action from us right now given that space development is a very, very long term project by nature and we’re already working on developing the most basic forms of the requisite technology, it still seems a bit frustrating to lose that which we cannot reach. Its not just us either, statistically speaking it should be extremely unlikely for life and advanced intelligence to occur once, but only once, so I take it as a given that theres more out there somewhere, but evidently it cant be that common or else hasnt gotten much further than us, given all the stars we can see out there.

I dont really think everything we touch turns to shit, I just think we judge ourselves much more harshly than we judge “natural” things. I dont really care that much if the people that go off to the stars do so because of some desire to harvest them for some kind of profit or put up a space-mcdonalds at alpha centauri or whatever, as long as someone goes. Obviously I would prefer they build a nicer society there than just a rehash of what we have here right now, but in my view even the crappiest society is preferable to a dead rock or inanimate clump of gas, even if it is an aesthetically pleasing rock. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say, and I think we can make beautiful things, or failing that, and least find the beauty in what we do make, if we try.