Maybe someone will invent magic, and we'll be able to abacadabera in pea-sized 10ghz processors!

My dad told me once that some people from his generation were positive we'd have colonized the moon by 2010...

your dad was probably quoting people that were not taking in to account the various money sinks that ate up the funds that could have been used to make that happen.

Wars and such...

That's not it. It's not about the money - it's about the interest. There is just no reason to colonize the moon, so no one did.

There is a compelling long-term reason to colonize the moon: to solve the issues we need to solve to expand to other solar systems.

If we don't, it seems totally possible that at some point a large-scale disaster on Earth could wipe out all human life.

Technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.