R&S: What do you think of Stephen Hawking's ridiculous opinion of colonizing space?

We don't have even near the technology, the money, and resources to do such an absurdity. So, unless there will be massive robbery by the government from the citizens and their tax-dollars, there isn't a chance that this will happen. Building colonies on the moon and mars will require more than 10 times of all of the Earth's money. Seeing as Earth-like planets are much further into space, and travel to them is impossible and will always be impossible, shouldn't we concentrate our time in making our lives better and worthwhile here on earth, and forget about space once and for all? It is a useless endeavor, and should only be studied by astronomers and astrophysicists who are being funded by private institutions (university tenured-track professors, most likely), and not my tax-dollars.