Bezos Beyond

[catherine]

I don't know what weird alienated souls we are supposed to be anyway, cheering private space travel, but not grieving the destruction of planet earth.

+100. Thank you.

I sometimes think we became alienated when we left the proverbial Garden of Eden. In the present context, I don't blame Jeff Bezos for wanting to ditch planet Earth just because he has the money to do it and he sees that earth is like the Staten Island landfill with no end in sight. It's his money, and this culture has determined that if you have money, it's yours to do what you please with it. It's that culture that I question the values of... a culture not solely defined by the US, but which goes back to Martin Luther and the work ethic that spawned capitalism.

[LDAHL]

As for debased souls: I don't know what weird alienated souls we are supposed to be anyway, cheering private space travel, but not grieving the destruction of planet earth. What bizarre automaton humans are we supposed to be anyway? And one can't not grieve the destruction of the natural world they have known these days. It's inescapable. Asking us not to feel anything about that but be excited about a private space flight to nowhere, no hourly wage is high enough for that type of emotional labor.

I think excellence and achievement are worth celebrating in any circumstances, and that surrendering to despair is not. I think these flights to nowhere will lead to great things.

I also suspect that when the problems presented by climate change are eventually dealt with, it will done by guys like Bezos and Branson rather than through the interminable whining of people like Greta Thunberg or Elizabeth Warren.

[catherine]

Excellence and achievement are worth celebrating.

Those who wish to improve our circumstances and work to achieve those ends are, by definition, not "in despair." Were our Founding Fathers "in despair" when they shook off the shackles of Great Britain? Was MLK "in despair" while "whining" about the plight of the Blacks in America?

The problems presented by climate change will be solved one way or the other. The devil is in the details. Some think technology can solve our problems, and some think the problem IS that some think that technology can solve the problems. Those people are the ones that actually appreciate elephants with ivory tusks and sharks with fins, and soil that doesn't have to be created in a chemical lab.


ETA: this article from the NYTimes that says that Jefferson, Washington, and Hamilton "whined" about the future of America, too.

[ApatheticNoMore]

The problems presented by climate change will be solved one way or the other. The devil is in the details.

or they won't be dealt with until billions of people die first, or humans become extinct, that's also perfectly possible. If it was "dealt with by Bezo's" or "dealt with by Branson" (tm) (theoretically if they invested in such, I mean as far as I know no such thing is even going on and so I'm not sure why I should give them credit for something that isn't happening, so .... theoretically), it absolutely of course would not be solved by Bezo's or Banson but by their employees.

And I'd still bet on it being dealt with by China first in that case anyway because of the remarkable technical feats they are capable of and the motive to do so (but they might do so for more for their good than the collective good of the planet alas, and of course so would Bezo's). Cities of millions in China have entirely electrified bus fleets with 1000s of electric busses added weekly, hospitals are built for covid in days etc..

[catherine]

or they won't be solved until billions of people die first,

That's just one of the details.

[pinkytoe]

Or the fact that being in space (weightlessness) is very hard on Earthling's bodies. They weren't designed to live there, ie invasive species.

[razz]

The world needs diverse efforts from resourceful as well as having the resources to explore ways to move ahead on climate change and all the other challenges in our lives.

[catherine]

Very partial list of American whiners:

George Washington
Benjamin Franklin
John Adams
Alexander Hamilton
John Hancock
Booker T. Washington
Harriet Tubman
Abraham Lincoln
John Brown
Susan B. Anthony
Gloria Steinem
Betty Friedan
Eleanor Roosevelt
Angela Davis
Martin Luther King, Jr.
James Baldwin
Medgar Evars
Langston Hughes
Ralph Abernathy
Audra Lorde
Bobby Seale
Soujourner Truth
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Angela Davis
Barbara Walters
Maya Angelou
Rosa Parks
Lady Gaga
Harvey Milk
Marsha Johnson
Ryan White
Ellen Degeneres
Gilbert Baker
Rachel Carson
Julia Butterfly Hill
Wendell Berry
Winona LaDuke
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
John Muir
Thoreau
Peace Pilgrim
Helen & Scott Nearing
Edward Abbey
W.E.B. DuBois
Jacob Riis
John Lewis

So many whiners! I wish they had shut up already!

If you have an annoying whiner you'd like to add to the list, please do! We have to be sure these whiners don't upset the status quo!

[JaneV2.0]

Yeah--the best of us have never been stodgily content with the status quo.

I've read many scathing takes on Bezos, his eye-poppingly expensive jaunt to "almost space," and his plans to take pollution elsewhere. I suppose this kind of thing is inevitable, but there's so much to do here...

[iris lilies]

I find the idea of living in space for any length of time and with any sizable population to be preposterous.