"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!"
I don't know about you but the space ambitions of these three fellows leave me cold. I would like to think that if I was fabulously rich I would rather spend my excess millions doing good for less fortunate human beings - helping the homeless, bringing clean water to villages in Africa, funding projects that address the climate emergency. In this sense, I would be more of a Bill Gates than a Jeff Bezos, more of an Andrew Carnegie than a Richard Branson, more of a Jamsetji Tata than an Elon Musk. How about you?
I'm with you all the way on this one YP, there are much better things to do with their money !!
ReplyDeletePS Are you saving up to come to Brisbane in 2032? Hope we are still around to see it all and that all this Covid nonsense is behind us and just an unpleasant memory by then
I will be seventy nine years old then. Good luck to Brissie! I hope and expect that The Games will be hugely successful in your fair city. You will have to volunteer to be a cheerleader. Waving pom poms is not as easy as it looks.
DeleteI believe Jeff Bezos donated $200 Million to charity after his flight. Richard Branson might have done something similar but I don't know for sure. It's difficult for the average person to comceive how much money these people have. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteIf he did genuinely donate $200 million where did the money go? Did he fear criticism?
DeleteI contribute all I can to tree planting and school breakfast programs and so on. Unless money changed me a lot, I know who I am
ReplyDeleteWith the money these guys will have spent on their vanity projects, you could have replanted the Amazon rain forest.
DeleteThese guys are adding more problems to the world. They are completely lacking any consideration of others.
ReplyDeleteEgo tripping.
DeleteTotally agree.
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DeleteJeff's rocket looks like a penis.
ReplyDeleteI think they're self centered assholes. The money spent on this space crap could have literally helped millions of people who are suffering, right now.
I am glad that mine doesn't look like that. It would be a hell of a surprise when I pulled my zipper down.
DeleteYes to all of this! It is so frivolous and unnecessary. There are many worthy causes and lots of extreme need. Space travel isn't one of them.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much nonsense spoken about space travel and populating Mars etc.. It will never happen.
DeleteCompletely with you on that.
ReplyDeleteTick symbol.
DeleteI agree. The only value of money is to make people's lives better and not to indulge the rich.
ReplyDeleteSome self-indulgence is allowable but not this much!
DeleteMy sister and I were talking about just that yesterday during our after-work walk (for her, not for me - I am still enjoying my last days of freedom before going back to work on Monday after my enforced break of 6 weeks!).
ReplyDeleteWe were both saying the same thing as you. In our opinion, the fabulously rich have a moral obligation to give something back to the world - after all, they have become so rich because money from millions of people has flown their way.
We agree that it is OK to have a certain standard of living, a nice house, good car (but not 15 cars - you can always only drive one at the same time, right?), fine clothes etc., and if they want to pursue a certain hobby, that's alright. Sure, if the money is enough for both a ticket to space AND supporting charities and trusts, by all means go ahead. Just don't spend it all on just yourselves and your own families.
Regarding global warming, even their use of rocket fuel sends out a very bad message.
DeleteThey seem to do anything that will put their face all over the media.
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting looking rocket in that first photo.
Ego tripping across the universe.
DeleteI agree. I have often thought that if I had millions I would turn derelict office blocks into housing for the homeless and introduce schemes to help them get a job and housing. Going into space is all very well but we need to help people on this planet first
ReplyDeleteThen and only then should we be setting our sights on what lies beyond - probably nothing as it happens.
DeleteI know what the shape of that rocket reminds me of.....I shall say no more...
ReplyDeleteWhy so coy Frances?
DeleteI'm not sure exactly what benefit these flights have, apart from one-upmanship, and a long held desire satisfied for someone with unlimited access to money! However it is their money to spend as they please. Perhaps they've already given millions to charity.
ReplyDeleteSpace is not somewhere I've ever contemplated going...I mean, there's nothing there is there? When you finally arrive, well, there's nothing - no McDonalds, Costa coffee, no Michelin starred restaurants, or a decent shopping mall selling branded goods so that you can buy a T-shirt letting everyone know you've been out in space. What good is that?
Seriously I agree that money would be better spent on more worthy causes, but that too is open to argument - which worthy cause do you support?
I wonder if Captain Kirk and <Mr Spock were searching for the things you refer to Carol - the very essence of civilisation. Like you, I believe there's nothing there - just endless black emptiness. We have no reason t think otherwise.
DeleteEgoist's all of them. I agree entirely with you. There is no need for anyone in the world to go hungry or homeless if the wealth was shared out but there will always be those people who are greedy for what others have.
ReplyDeleteThere's enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed.
Can't remember who said that but it's so true.
Briony
x
I believe it was Gandhi who said that and he was very right.
DeleteThey are to do with self-publicity and rich men's toys, yes, but there is going to be a need for the commercial exploitation (if that's an appropriate words these days) of space. Perhaps we don't know what the benefits (or problems) might be until we do it, but one possibility is that if we are going to need more batteries to maintain something like our present standard of life without drowning, freezing, burning or suffocating ourselves, then the rare minerals that are needed might be more available up there.
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe that we would be better off using our ingenuity to make the most of this little planet by concentrating on our present reality.
DeleteBillionaires holiday day trips to nowhere.
ReplyDeleteOne day something will go terribly wrong and there will be newsworthy deaths.
DeleteCompletely agree with you. There is too much on Earth that needs help getting fixed. These obscenely expensive pi**ing matches among rich men aren't helping any of Earth's problems and I do believe those who have enough money to do it have a moral obligation to do better. Jeff Bezos had the nerve to thank all the Amazon employees who helped him get to space - the same employees who are underpaid and strictly monitored for every minute spent, including bathroom breaks. Could he not see the irony of his thank you speech? Bah, humbug!
ReplyDeleteIn my estimation, you are seeing things very clearly.
DeleteWell I shall get a tick obviously because I agree with what you say. It is all macho man with small brains and lots of money in the bank. Problem with giving money to charities it gets hived off on the way by unscrupulous people. I prefer to sit at home and watch tv programmes on space, even though they are at least 40 years old;)
ReplyDeleteI believe that the hiving off of charity money by unscrupulous people happens far less than some folk imagine.
DeleteIt makes me sick, truly, that these bozos can waste untold amounts of money on this nonsense while people starve to death and half the world is on fire. Then there's the fact that Amazon pays no taxes and treats its employees like dirt.
ReplyDeleteAs my friend Jess said recently, "Cletus, get the guillotine."
I refuse to think that you are "virtue signalling" Jennifer. To me you are just saying what you think.
DeleteVirtue signaling. That's an interesting take Bob has. I really don't think my core values would change if I suddenly won the lottery, for instance. I've been poor all my life (especially as a child) and I wouldn't ever forget it. And I've been known to give $20 to homeless people when I had less than $100 to my name. If I had access to millions and billions of dollars, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't use a large portion of it to relieve some suffering in the world. Would I buy some frivolous things? Sure. Would I waste plenty of money? Probably. But I'd give a whole lot away, too.
DeleteBoys will be boys.
ReplyDeleteEtc.
And aren't they pushing for space "tourism"? At this point of course it would be more like a very expensive Disney Land ride. For other very, very rich people. Well, under the rules of which we here on earth operate at this point in time, they can all do with their money what they want. And so it has ever been.
For all three there a big questions about the means by which they acquired their enormous wealth. And we all belong to the earthling community.
DeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks they could have done just a bit more to make it less phallic shaped.
ReplyDeleteOf the three above, I like Musk's pursuits the best because it truly does seem that there is a significant portion that is for the benefit of mankind. But just to build rockets to take the rich up to space for a few minutes doesn't seem to benefit much of anything. I suspect all this will be over quickly when the first failure causes some very rich lives lost.
As for your question, I have always felt the most good I could do was at a local level. The more high level you throw money at, the more hands it has to trickle through before it gets to where it can do some good and as one would expect, the less reaches those levels.
I remember a charity shop in Cupar in Scotland. It was called "Charity Begins at Home" and its main aim was to help needy people in the local community. I kind of admire that but what if you live in poverty in Malawi or in a refugee camp in Lebanon - who is going to come to your aid?
DeleteI offer my comment with a mixture of fear and trembling, as I am well aware of the old saying (not heard much nowadays) that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. This post and many of the comments are either virtue signaling or sour grapes, and possibly both. People without money (and that includes most is us, I would wager) do not know what they would do with a lot of money until they actually get it. You might be surprised at yourself.
ReplyDeleteLet the barrage of hate mail begin.
"Virtue signalling" is not a term I ever use. Perhaps it's just people saying what they think - myself included. And okay I don't "know" what I would do with a lot of money but based on my experience of life thus far I can imagine. Is the ability to imagine or to surmise somehow invalid? I don't think so.
DeleteAnyway, what do you think about the space adventures of these three men? You neglected to say.
*about
DeleteBob, I am surprised at your comment. And disappointed.
DeleteThere is something very uncomfortable able watching rich guys pleasuring themselves in front of you, isn't there?
ReplyDeleteGulp! You may have had that experience Debby but it's not something I have ever faced!
DeleteYou think that watching a couple billionaires feeding their egos by this space race is virtually the same thing.
DeleteAs one who was thrilled to watch the "space race" of the 60s (and believe that a lot of useful, good technology came of it), I'm not a total nay-sayer about today's space antics. I will say I'm more impressed with Musk, though, since his efforts seem to be broader than just feeding an ego like the other two. I can think of so many other ways that money could be spent. Then again, I have those same thoughts when I read what is spent on election campaigns.
ReplyDeleteAs for what is out there? Read the wiki page for the Fermi Paradox. It's interesting!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
Thanks for that Kelly.
DeleteDid I mention that I'm building a rocket. I shall require a navigator; are you up for it?
ReplyDeleteMy ears are not pointy enough Cap'n Cro.
DeleteI agree. There is so much pioneering work to be done on this planet, so everyone can continue to live well here and wildlife can survive. Such a waste of talent and money.
ReplyDelete