[GeronL]

we could all be dirt poor peasants before we get a chance to escape

[WhiskeyX]

“we could all be dirt poor peasants before we get a chance to escape”

That is a common misconception. Even if you could invent a Star Trek transporter, there are too many people to transport. The remaining population on the Earth produces more children faster than the transporter can transport them. The escapees can only be the descendants of the small number of people who colonize the new extraterrestrial habitats. The population of humans left behind will become extinct, sooner or later, leaving the emigrants as the survivor population/s.

[Charles Martel]

we could all be dirt poor peasants before we get a chance to escape

We might just as easily find a way to escape into the past, rather than deep space.

Wench: "I'm game, Love. Lead and I'll follow. Where's 'Library'?"