I don't think it's sexy, at all. It's hard work, but it's also necessary.
> "colony run by a dictator"
A space colony is a pretty harsh environment. I'd be that it'll tend toward harsh, centralized leadership sooner rather than later, but, you know, maybe I'm wrong on that. In my defense, the things that make democracy possible -- plentiful resources, some level of societal trust, public safety -- are not going to be plentiful on Mars.
> Humankind needs a frontier to strive towards, this has always been the case and will probably remain so.
Agreed.
> There used to be many frontiers but technology has developed as such a rapid pace that they're starting to become quite rare.
Disagree. It is still the case that every question we answer in science leads to two more. Now, granted, not everyone needs/wants/can be a scientist.
> As said, feel free to "fix the Earth" but may I suggest framing this in a more positive and inspiring way?
Yeah, I probably should've, that would've probably been more convincing.