What A Tragic Waste!!!

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Rants, Social commentary

I’ve made no secret of my feelings about millionaires and billionaires who hoard their wealth rather than using it to help people in need.  I’ve also made no secret of my feelings about space travel in this, the 21st century, but in case you missed it, I think it is a complete and total waste of resources.  Combine the two, and you have a very pissed off Filosofa!  Every night, thousands of children around the world go to bed hungry.  Every day, people are dying of diseases that could have been prevented, if only they had access to affordable healthcare.  People are living in their cars, under overpasses on highways.  Some people are working 2-3 jobs just to ensure their children have enough to eat.  And this nation spends millions, billions to play Buzz Lightyear.  NASA’s budget for 2021 is $23.3 billion!  Imagine how many people could eat for a month for that amount of money.

I am equally galled, perhaps even more so, by private citizens playing Star Wars with their billions, rather than using their good fortune to help those less fortunate.  And yes, folks, it is simply good fortune.  No, hard work did not earn those billionaires their billions … most of them were born with silver spoons in their mouths, played their cards right and invested wisely, and now they … literally … own the damn world!  And even if they had slaved in the fields from sunup to sundown to earn their wealth, it is unconscionable to throw it away on ego trips when people ‘round the globe are starving.

I am referring, of course specifically to three people — Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, Richard Branson, an uber-wealthy businessman, and Elon Musk, founder of Tesla … three men whose combined wealth could raise the entire planet out of poverty and who have made their wealth from the blood, sweat and tears of the average Joe!  But rather than use their wealth for such things as helping improve the environment, helping people out of poverty, helping provide medical care in this era of the pandemic, they prefer to build toys and play with them.  What is accomplished by their trip to space?  Not. One. Damned. Thing.

Turns out, I am not alone in my disgust, as several others have similar complaints.

I also saw at least one comment claiming that these men were doing ‘great’ things and opening new frontiers for the human race.  Excuse me, folks, but humans will never life on other planets or in outer space.  Oh sure, they may waste billions more dollars developing controlled-environments in small spaces, but that’s not living.  No other planet besides Earth has the resources … little things like breathable air, potable water, arable soil … to support life as we know it, so all the space exploration is NOT going to provide us a second option when we complete the destruction of Planet Earth!  It is a waste of time, energy, and money … resources that could be used to end hunger, eradicate most diseases, and help repair the damage we have so selfishly done to our environment.  Damn Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk.  These are NOT good men, you will never see them on one of my ‘good people’ posts!

52 thoughts on “What A Tragic Waste!!!”

  3. Isnt that a personal choice?? , If i have money and i choose to help only few will that make me bad ?? Isnt the government responsible to uplift the society ??
    If i make money i will not be able to help the whole world but i will contribute what i can , not giving the whole money is not bad and not giving anything is also not bad i believe its all personal choice .

    Liked by 1 person

    • Well … we may disagree on that. I think that there is such a thing as social responsibility. I have enough money to pay my bills and save a small amount, but yet I feel a responsibility to be frugal so that I can help others … and I do. Most people of modest means do give to the poor, the homeless, support foundations that are trying to clean up the environment, or provide healthcare to those who cannot provide for themselves. But it seems that people of great wealth feel no such responsibility to others. I think we ALL have a responsibility to help those less fortunate and yes, it is a personal choice, but I think it’s criminal to have billions of dollars sitting in offshore accounts or in investment portfolios while people are putting their children to bed hungry at night. Just my opinion.

      Liked by 2 people

            • Hmmm … perhaps … but in the case of these three, as well as many others of great wealth, they also don’t pay their fair share of income taxes — money that might go a long way toward helping people. Finding ways to evade taxes does, in my view at least, make them bad men, or cheaters at the very least. I might view their foolish waste of money differently if they weren’t avoiding the responsibility that those of us with much less do take seriously. 😉

              Liked by 1 person

  4. Pingback: Why Many Americans Are Indifferent to the "Second Great Space Race" - WeTheCommoners Blog

  5. Hello Jill. It seems to me the wealthy do not care how badly they damage an area because in their minds they can use their wealth to buy their comfort elsewhere. The rest of us can’t. To them who cares if they ruin the water table of a state, or despoil an entire wilderness preserve, even kill off a few species if they get their fun and profit. They don’t care because they don’t have to live in the mess they create, they can take their yacht to some nice island harbor not yet spoiled or jet off to a pristine mountain retreat they have not plundered. I often wonder if that is not why these wealthiest are racing to figure out how to fly into low earth orbit, so that when they make all the nice spots here horrible, they will have one more place they can still go. Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

    • While there are exceptions, such as Bill Gates & Warren Buffett, you’re right … for the most part, great wealth seems to erase conscience and the wealthy care only about themselves and their investment portfolio. They are slobs who throw their trash down on the sidewalk for someone else, one of us ‘lesser beings’ to pick up. They destroy the planet and expect the rest of us to go behind them trying to put back that which they have destroyed. As long as they are having fun, what else matters? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Let them all go live on Mars where they’ll never see another tree or breath fresh air after a rain or plant flowers and watch them grow. Apparently they’re too busy making money to pay attention to those things anyway. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Hugs

      Liked by 2 people

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  7. Very well written, Jill!! I feel quite certain you said what many (most?) of us are thinking.

    Even the “passengers” had to drop a “few bucks” to take this space jaunt — no doubt to “help with expenses.” 😠

    Liked by 3 people

    • Thank you, Nan! I found out from another reader’s blog that there was actually a petition going ’round to not allow Bezos to return! Something like 117,000 people had signed it!

      Yep, the fools paid quite a bit, as I understand it. Heck, he’d have had to pay ME to go on his little trip … I might have done it if he gave me $1 billion! Think of the good I could have done with that!

      Liked by 2 people

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  11. Contrary to what I just said to Nan on my blog post, Jill. I would have said it differently, and have, but you did a fine job saying it your way. My only disagreement is in limiting your anger to just those three men of wealth. Yeah, I know they are garnering all the attention with their space race these days, but there are so many other money-parasites out there they need to be pointed out too.
    Still, you go girl!

    Liked by 5 people

    • Thank you, rg! Well, those are the three that are currently creating the biggest stir, and let’s face it, I cannot cover every greedy, selfish, unconscionable billionaire in a single post. I pick my battles, and these 3 are on my radar this week.
      Thanks!

      Liked by 1 person

  12. I think that NASA does good work, on the whole (though it worries me, just a little, that their motto “To understand and protect the home planet” was quietly done away with). Coincidentally, I’ve employed a NASA video in my latest post, and I’m very grateful to them for it.

    But I’m totally with you in railing against the idle insanely wealthy indulging their lunatic macho fantasies.

    That’s a great selection of tweets you’ve offered there, Jill. I think my favourite is Katie Mack’s:

    I don’t want to tell billionaires how they should or shouldn’t use their money.

    I want society to be structured in such a way that single individuals never become so wealthy as to have the power to singlehandedly alter the course of society on a whim.

    Liked by 3 people

    • I have long respected the work NASA does, and at one time it was important. Today, I think, not so much. I’d rather see them turn their focus toward finding ways to help preserve the planet we live on, the planet that is being destroyed and may already be beyond repair. I’ll check out your post … if not tonight, then definitely tomorrow!

      Yes, I liked that comment as well …

      Liked by 2 people

  13. Yeah, that was the comment on my FB re-post of the picture with the three of them on rockets you also posted here. I didn’t bother replying as this was someone I’ve muted many times over the past 5 years or so. If these billionaires were really so altruistic (in a way we as mere poor folks can’t possibly understand), would they not have done a needs analysis to find out where their money would be best spent? Oh they did? With other tragically bored billionaires? Well, there you have it then.

    Liked by 4 people

    • Ahhhh … that might be where I saw it! I’m always amazed by people who defend the wealthy and say it’s their money to do with as they please. Sigh. We live in a world where ignorance and greed go hand in hand. Sigh.

      Liked by 1 person

      • A lust for personal,pleasure ain’t a problem per se, we all have that. And these guys are rich so their pleasurescan be a bit out there and out of the range of poor schmucks like us. But space is a bit out of bounds even for them. Remember when the rich fucks used to have the wildest sailing yachts constructed to compete in the America’s Cup challenge.That was sick and unsociable but at least down to earth and we were able to follow the matchraces on TV or even live.

        Liked by 2 people

        • I don’t know, my friend. I still think that those who are fortunate enough to have so much wealth have a moral obligation to use some of that wealth to help others rather than throwing it away on million-dollar toys. I think we all have a responsibility to help those less fortunate than us. I know people who can barely pay their bills, yet they give a few dollars each month to food banks or homeless shelters. They give more than people like Bezos, a man who could literally feed the hungry for a year and still be a billionaire!

          Liked by 2 people

    • Yes, small steps … even if they paid their fair share in taxes they would still have great wealth beyond what most of us can even imagine. But the way they dodge paying ANY taxes, you’d think they were going to have to live in extreme poverty if they paid their fair share. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 2 people

  18. One tragedy you left out was that the true underlying reason these ‘dildos’ are heading to space is to make way for their ultimate plan for an alternate home for themselves and those who can afford to make the cut and their ticket aboard whatever space pod they come up with to abandon the Earth their businesses helped to destroy.

    Liked by 4 people

    • True. And you know … as far as I’m concerned they are more than welcome to make themselves a little enclave somewhere in outer space and never return to Planet Earth. Personally, I couldn’t live in a place with no trees, no flowers, no wildlife … I’d rather be dead.

      Liked by 2 people

  21. A little bit, I can understand the rich. If you have always been well, you – like meanwhile many of our politicians 😉 – move in completely different circles, no longer think about poverty. These gimmicks are justified by the fact that one wants to move society forward. It’s like with the aristocrats, whose works of art only exist because in the past thousands upon thousands of people had to starve to death. xx Michael

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