i'd say capitalism has done a lot more than money and power. consider tesla. consider space x. google, or even wikipedia. they all provide a service for the world. thery all move humanity foward. i will be like them one day
capitalism didnt put people in the moon it was the cold war did it
without the cold war we still wuldnt be there if it had continued we had been walking mars ages ago the technology is there already
but the capitalists hated the cold war it was bad for business putting people on the moon wont line any 1s pockets u will need strong enough political motivation to do so
to show off the other guy we can do this and u cant- until they can that was the beauty of cold war
i also disagree with u luna when u say we cannot kill all humans usa and russia combined produced enough nuclear weapons to wipe out the human race and most other races as well if we so choose- another gift of the cold war
but so far we can forget about space for a bit while capitalists r thinking about lining their pockets with dollars theres no money to be made in space currently
because we must. if we don't we will mostly certainly die.
let's consider the entire universe..
By the time the Universe was only 1 second old, quarks had already turned into protons and neutrons, and those protons and neutrons were getting together to form Hydrogen. This Hydrogen formed into Stars, the stars, through nuclear fusion made heavier elements, and thne exploded-- which subsequently formed all the heavier elements, and everything we are made of today. My point is that this universe is a mathematical model. This model consists of elementary particales who's mass are not defined by their true physical size, but rather the fundemental forces which produce the structure we see in the universe today.
Humanity exists on such a small scale. The things we consider important to us. Our loved one. Our pets. Our dreams even.. They look like this to an observer:
So there we are. Humanity. A little grey bacteria growing on the side of the Earth as we can see from this satelite image of the United Kingdom. This Earth has finite resources. It doesn't exist for Humanity. There is no guarantee that this is some self-sustaining eden that will take care of us-- regardless of how much we try to take care of it.
We Humans. We find ourselves on this planet by chance. None of us had a choice, but if we feel that life is worth living, and we want to encourage the propogation of human existance, than it is important that we ensure that Humanity will continue to have the resources and means to exist well into the future. Regardless if flood, disease, meteors, or war wipes out Humanity.
The universe is huge. It could very well be empty. The present is fleeting, and, though time seems short to us, what we do now will echo through the universe. I know it sounds crazy, but just as the perspective drasticly changes when we look at ourselves from a point of view beyond earth, our perspectives change when we consider 100 years to be an instant, as apposed to our whole lives.
When we define ourselves as an instant, what do we become? What is it that seems alive? I'd argue it's the society itself. The blob of mold growing on the side of the planet. Who we are as individuals... doesn't really matter much. What matters is that this blob ensure it's own future. So the question becomes. How much of this blob is aware of itself, and cares about it's future?
I'd say enlightenment is the ability to step back, and look at yourself from a bigger perspective. I'd argue this is the ultimate perspective, and when we consider the state of this bacteria, we see ourselves within a fragile ecosystem that we have only begun to understand. To be so wreckless as to think we, and our decendents are safe and sound here... it is naive.
"Humanity exists on such a small scale. The things we consider important to us. Our loved one. Our pets. Our dreams even.. They look like this to an observer: "
Works both ways really: 
What do we do once we've explored it and mined it to death? Population would continue to grow as humanity is spread across the stars, but is that something we should really want? Keeping us localized could be sparing the universe from the horrors of humanity.