Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
‘They Could End World Hunger But Instead They Race For Space’: 30 Of The Most Honest Reactions To The Billionaire Space Race
As you might know, the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, has an aerospace company called Blue Origin and it will bring him into outer space. Bezos is getting inside his own space shuttle, New Shepard, on July 20. But even though he's about to achieve his boyhood dream, the owner of Amazon won't be the first billionaire to launch himself above the rest of us (that honor belongs to former Microsoft software engineer Charles Simonyi). Nor will he be the second one.
Soon after he made his plan public in June, Richard Branson stepped in to say that more than a week before Bezos, he would be boarding his own Virgin Galactic VSS Unity for a spaceflight. And on Sunday, he did. The 70-year-old won the billionaire space race.
But not everyone finds this rivalry useful. Or even inspiring. Writer Jacob Silverman, for example, called it "a tragically wasteful ego contest." But he's not alone. Many Twitter users seem to agree with Silverman and have been criticizing the billionaires for being out of touch with reality.
Image credits: richardbranson
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Wish I could edit, meant to say, "Don't bother with the dog parks. Dogs deserve better." Geez, it's not even Monday.
ben woskje 4 years ago
"Name a dog park after you" - now I'm incentivised to become a billionaire....
Helge Kautz 4 years ago
US annual military budget: ~700 BILLION dollar. Why ask two private enterpreneurs to end world hunger when their wealth is dwarved by even ONE year of US military spending?
sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
Dog park, well, they deserve the dog s**t, just for being greedy !!!
Hazel Rhea 4 years ago
I both wish to be wealthy enough to have a dog park named for me and hope it never happens. I love dogs maybe more than I should. My dogs want me to themselves. They couldn't have me being the willie wonka of my own dog park. What I have is more than enough. If billionaires could feel this way then maybe they'd be happy putting their resources toward solving painful problems.
Luther von Wolfen 4 years ago
In 1960, the US economy was the best it's ever been and the top tax rate was 94%.
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
I'd lower that to $100 million. Seriously, no one needs more money than that. No one needs that much even.
Kim Lorton 4 years ago
They lost the race before even starting! Another billionaire had already gone into space ! Paid 60 million dollars to the Russians to do so! Kinda makes what these dudes did, ridiculous!
RELATED:
#2
Sum Guy 4 years ago
This is a government job... governments need to tax them their fair share and use that money to end world hunger. It is not their problem to end world hunger
Mewton’s Third Paw 4 years ago
The government should close tax loopholes for the billionaires then.
Load More Replies...
ProfessionalTimeWaster 4 years ago
So what? Most people in this planet cannot afford flight tickets, but we do have airlines and airports.
Load More Replies...
Andrew 4 years ago
Not average persons. The 1%'ers. Space will never ever be accessible to the masses. Richard Bransons space games do nothing for Mankind. NASA and Space X are furthering our scientific understanding of our world and the world around us so I don't have a problem with that. But Branson spending billions to put a f*****g 'passenger plane' in space he can go and f**k himself.
ProfessionalTimeWaster 4 years ago
There are region in Italy where upto 50% of educated youths are unemployed. Education is not worth anything if no one is there to value it. Only entrepreneurs who take risks can provide those jobs and because few people in the world have the appetite to take the risk and even fewer to be successful in business, the world will always be a pyramid when it comes to wealth.
Load More Replies...
Salam Payne 4 years ago
They worked for their money .. they have the right to do with it whatever they wish .
In his piece for The New Republic, Silverman said the unofficial competition between "three masters of the universe," Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk (with Musk expressing less interest in personally going to space) has its share of dark undertones. "If all goes well ... Branson will return to Earth having cemented his claim to ... what exactly?" the writer asked. "Spending money he's earned off the labor of low-wage workers and shuffled between offshore tax havens, he will be the winner in an extravagant pageant that's designed less to inaugurate a new era of spaceflight than to drum up business for his other companies. Branson, like his would-be spacefaring competitors, isn't an innovator; he's a salesman."
#3
qwerty 4 years ago
There was a petition to stop Jeff Bezos from returning to Earth. Over 157,000 people have signed it.
Load More Replies...
Adam Jeff 4 years ago
Typically, a group of representatives elected by the adult population.
Load More Replies... 
Christina Uhlir 4 years ago
People will never thrive if they plunder and destroy the planet, massacre every single living creature with whom we supposed to share it, and when people unconscionably torture and murder billions upon the billions of farm animals, so they could eat flesh of more than one million of these poor sentient beings every single hour!!! Get it??? People are vile, destructive species.
Jumpin' Jo Hosafatz 4 years ago
It is not 'Capitalism' that is the problem, it is the rampant, out of control CORRUPTION that is the problem!
JoAnn Hodge 4 years ago
Do you KNOW where the money went these billionaires paid for that trip? How do you know it wasn't donated for a humanitarian cause or to further technology to help protect Americans?
#4
Bella, Your Kitty-Loving Queen 4 years ago (edited)
*thinks for a moment*…yeah okay that sounds fair.
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
For their first try. Double for their second try, triple for their third, and so forth. Will make a nice bundle—-to go toward ending poverty, hunger, and illiteracy in the world—-by the time they’re tired of blasting off, or their bank accounts are at zero, whichever comes first.
Neill Powell 4 years ago
Why? to and on the relatively large patch of earth they probably own, or will by the time they land? I don't think so. That's why they're rich and you are not.
Mike Rodrick 4 years ago
They've gotten rich off the backs of badlly treated employees for unbelievable ego satisfaction. Who, with any sense of morality, uses that kind of wealth to buy toys to impress the world while over 500,000 people are homeless & or living at or below the poverty level? They don't owe anyone anything but that's not the point. Apparently Bill Gates gave away half of his fortune because he knew he'd never need it & said his kids won't inherit it. That remains to be seen, but admirable under any circumstances. What have the other 3 egomaniacs done to help anyone? These are the types of things that cause anger from the wealth gap in this country. These bozos made billions thanks to trump's tax breaks to them while small businesses went under, people were being forced from their homes, are food insecure & are just basically being *ucked so these clowns can satisfy their egos. All as a result of capitalism that benefits only the wealthiest at the expense of everyone else.
Load More Replies...
#5
Kookamunga 4 years ago
Bingo. It's just a race to see who has the bigger d i c k. So stupid and there's so much good they could do with their endless supply of money.
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
I'd recommend to all three that they read some hard science fiction, like Asimov, Heinlein, et alia, because life in space (or in a colony on a planet without an atmosphere) is not a picnic. Frankly, given the state of Earth, I'm nearly positive we're not up to the task of colonizing space.
Adriaan Verhelle 4 years ago
"Eliminating poverty and disease" sounds good, but is a hollow catchy phrase that absolutely means nothing is is by definition unobtainable. Making the human race a multi planetary species is the only way humanity might survive in the long run. This is something also non-billionaire, scientist agree upon. This is only frowned upon by the general population because humans, due to their short lifespan, generally are unable to conceptualize long-term projects
Vicki Perizzolo 4 years ago
they could literally donate enough money to every charity on the planet and we would not have any more charities..
Silverman doesn't think that Branson, Bezos, and Musk are fulfilling a collective goal of the human race; they're not expanding our (blue) horizons.
"Branson, for instance, has said he wants to make space travel 'more accessible to all.” (Early reservations on Virgin Galactic flights cost $250,000 while a seat on the July 20 flight of Bezos's Blue Origin sold for $28 million.) But any honest assessment of the billionaire space race shows that it's less the dawning of a new epoch of universal space travel than the world's most expensive infomercial for a network of self-dealing billionaires who plan to make a lot more money down here on terra firma."
The unapologetic writer highlighted that the three men's business portfolios are conveniently vague, too."They all retain potentially lucrative interests in satellite launch and rocketry firms, which is where the real money is. And should the launches go well, they all stand to benefit from rising optimism and investment in their industry."
Of course, we can't expect billionaires to give money to every person in the world and solve the biggest global problems. But they can't expect us to believe that their "space exploration" runs on altruistic fuel as well.
#6
Dave P 4 years ago
the insulin prices are due to govt regulations in the US, that if we literally changed one page in our regulations in the US a months supply would be under $20. Insulin prices in the US are caused by US Regulations that force the prices to be that high.
GirlFriday 4 years ago
The insulin prices in the US are due to a lack of regulations on drug companies. It allows them to charge whatever they want. We need drug prices regulated so that epipens aren't $2,000 and insulin isn't $100 per bottle. Big pharma pays politicians to keep them deregulated.
Load More Replies...
Dandy Andy 4 years ago
Billionaires in space have nothing to do with insulin....the price of insulin is only an issue in north america, nowhere else on the planet.
Lynn Morello 4 years ago
Considering those companies charge more than 20 times as much for the insulin as it costs to produce it.
sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
That's a good point, the cost of insulin, it's ludicrous, why is it, is it about greed !!
Octavia Hansen 4 years ago
It's not their going into space that's so bothersome . . . it's that they come back.
#7
sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
I am impressed, with the winners, of "special Olympic winners" !!!
Marsha McCarthy 4 years ago
How right you are! Zaila is the best. What a wonderful inspiration she is to kids of all colors.
Benjamin Tang 4 years ago
The reason is that the billionaires have done nothing remarkable (going to space is nothing new). However, the spelling bee is HARD.
Evelyn Haskins 4 years ago
I an MUCH more impressed by the girl who won the spelling bee! And the nice checkout girl/lady, And the courteous drivers.
#8
Robin DJW 4 years ago
Yeah - and that point is after about the first million.
Load More Replies...
Grant Barke 4 years ago
Remember its the rich that want you the average person to reduce your wasteful carbon footprint and pay carbon taxes while they the rich get to enjoy spraying the atmosphere with their pollutants.
Adriaan Verhelle 4 years ago
It is also one of those rich people that is actually building technology that will help you reduce your carbon footprint. I don't see any government doing this. On the contrary, most of them actually want to lower cost of carbon pollution in an attempt to get the vote of the "common, poor people". A short term success play that will have to be paid for by the "common poor people" of the future.
Load More Replies... Christina Uhlir 4 years ago
Agree, however saving the planet is responsibility of every single human being = consumer on this planet, not just billionaires'.
Laura Mende (Human) 4 years ago
They just want to set up a second home on Mars. In case the world ends. Oh and Mark Zuckerberg wants to go back to his homeland, to Alpha Centauri. 😂😂😂
denzoren 4 years ago
I agree. If I have billions of dollars...and I'm still cool with seeing people and animals suffer...then you know it's pretty good if they're going in space....so they can just remain there.
DelvianBlue 4 years ago
Maybe that's the point - they eventually get the tech to just leave us with the planet they helped destroy, while they go on to colonize unpolluted worlds.
Load More Replies... 
#9
M O'Connell 4 years ago
That would require every member of that society to be on the same level of emotional maturity, and be uncorruptable in their ethical duty to the collective. That will be challenging to say the least.
Heliocracy 4 years ago
No, it would require a 90% top tax rate and the taxing of investment income as highly as a paycheck is taxed.
Load More Replies...
MrOwlAteMyMetalWorm. 4 years ago
Those billionare companies have their warehouse and manufacturing companies settled in thirld world countries like Bangladesh,Phillipines,Indonesia,India etc.There people will work for cents and peanuts because there is no job or employment options available for the dirt poor.Those iphones you use where do you think they were assembled together?They profit by using those poor hungry people for cheap labour ,use lawyers to play the system while yearning billions in their corner offices on those huge skyscrapers in NEW YORK.How is this not the same as imperialism or colonialism we experienced during WWs?We discrimate on colour,sex ,pay peanuts to people of humble backgrounds ,complain when they protest,call them communists and cult mentality when in the end we are still fighting the same things from 1945?! Just because we are not NUKING and BOMBING each other doesn't mean we are not at WAR! We play it more passive aggressively these days,cold wars are more the trend!CAPITALISM F****D US
Ronualdo 4 years ago
Sadly I agree.. Im working at a furniture factory(office staff) here in the Philippines that exports it to US and see how the employees were given small salary for a workload that could bring them to their knees. They expect 1 person to work a 5-man job, it's insane! They source their services here in Southeast Asia because of how low the labor cost, not minding the health and welfare of the laborers.
Load More Replies... Mewton’s Third Paw 4 years ago
Why lie to make your point if it’s such a good point?
Load More Replies... #10
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
How does that calculation actually work? I can see billionaires dropping enough food for everyone to have enough to eat for a year or a decade, but that wouldn't end systemic hunger?
Scagsy 4 years ago (edited)
I assume that instead of just feeding people they would invest in the infrastructure, education and agriculture enabling the people to feed themselves indefinitely. It's the old 'give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him to fish and he'll set up a seafood restaurant' quote or something. idk
Load More Replies...
MrOwlAteMyMetalWorm. 4 years ago
Dan Price is really a great guy!His revenue model stands for the society.I love his enterpreneurship.He has my respect.Neat guy.
Jumpin' Jo Hosafatz 4 years ago
You cannot blame these creepy guys (no matter how greedy and corrupt they are) for world hunger and the out of control population explosion... consider there were 1 billion people on the planet in 1921, and there are over 8 billion people on the planet in 2021. (It took over 2000 years to get to 1 billion people and only 100 years to get to 8 billion people... at that rate, there will be over 16 billion people on the planet in 25 years, all demanding food, water, jobs, housing, etc., etc. Maybe people should stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility for their own actions.)
WorldNeedsReboot 4 years ago
due to the plandemic, big pharma (about 10-11 of them) added BILLIONS to their wallets!!
Sum Guy 4 years ago
This is a government job... governments need to tax them their fair share and use that money to end world hunger. It is not their problem to end world hunger
Benjamin Tang 4 years ago
Are you sure the government can also be trusted not to waste the tax revenue? See, this is the problem with a big-government society. Politicians aren't angels who would do everything they can for society. Politicians are humans, just like everyone else. They want money and power, just like everyone else. "Power corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely." When you give the government absolute power, (massive taxes, more control) then government corruption is inevitable.
Load More Replies... #11
Jennifer Doscher 4 years ago
They wouldn't shovel by themselves; they're too out of shape. And, they have "people for that."
Jumpin' Jo Hosafatz 4 years ago
You cannot blame these creepy guys (no matter how greedy and corrupt they are) for world hunger and the out of control population explosion... consider there were 1 billion people on the planet in 1921, and there are over 8 billion people on the planet in 2021. (It took over 2000 years to get to 1 billion people and only 100 years to get to 8 billion people... at that rate, there will be over 16 billion people on the planet in 25 years, all demanding food, water, jobs, housing, etc., etc. Maybe people should stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility for their own actions.)
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
I really don't think any of them is prepared for what space is really like. For one thing, the g-force you experience just to escape Earth's gravity is painful at best, fatal at worst. Secondly, zero gravity isn't a fun ride; you literally have to exercise hard so your body doesn't forget how to function in gravity. Thirdly, don't get me started on what passes for a toilet in space. Or a meal.
sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
This was extremely well done, pass it on to the little boys !!!
Simon Kwan 4 years ago
I agree with the sentiment but dislike that the poor, dying, and hungry are portrayed as dark skinned and 'uncivilized'.
BetweenTheCracks 4 years ago
And if they were portrayed as white, someone else would be upset about dark-skinned people being overlooked in such matters. Can't please everyone.
Load More Replies... Adriaan Verhelle 4 years ago
You could redraw this and replace the rockets by the original poster tweeting from his air-conditioned condo on his silica-battery powered smartphone using his personal wifi.
#12
Scagsy 4 years ago (edited)
It's obscene. Every time one of those rockets takes off, they are metaphorically burning piles and piles of money. Right above our heads. Bright and loud. While people work seven day weeks just to feed the kids and heat their homes and others starve or sleep on the streets. It's the ultimate 'f**k you'.
Auntriarch 4 years ago
Never saw a rocket as a middle finger before, thank you for raising my conciousness
Load More Replies... Charles Ward 4 years ago
To do that means you need to sell your stock.. assuming there are enough buyers to buy the stock.. at its perceived value. And the stocks don't tank as I start to sell them. Perceived value in stock.. is not real cash in hand. BTW to buy everyone a house in the US is around 65 trillion based on the current market average value.
Benjamin Tang 4 years ago
And ROBBING them of their money to house strangers is the biggest character flaw I've seen.
Mewton’s Third Paw 4 years ago
They wouldn’t need to be if they had to pay their taxes like the rest of the top earners, you ugly elf.
Load More Replies...
#13
CatWoman312 4 years ago
How can he be that out of touch? Maybe his head is literally already in space
Obaku the Otaku 4 years ago
His head is somewhere alright, but not in space.
Load More Replies... Michael Se 4 years ago
Space only represents hope for so many because greedy exploitative capitalists made the planet a literal hellhole for so many people. Eyeroll. This guy is friggin idiot.
Mewton’s Third Paw 4 years ago
This doesn’t help the cause. We can’t claim we want their fair share and then demand an unfair share. They should just be the highest bracket, topping out at like 60%. That’s plenty. Right now they pay less than 1%.
Karen Lawyer 4 years ago
Agreed. Who would be happy to work hard but only make 5% of what they earned? That's only $50 out of $1000, or $10k out of $1 mil.
Load More Replies... Vicki Perizzolo 4 years ago
space doesn't represent hope until you have Planet B because we're to lame to fix Planet A... while you're spinning around up there looking down at the mess...
Doris Bennett 4 years ago
I am hoping that those "Space Billies" do not LITERALLY have all those billions in the bank... as we speak ... but earned it and donated 98% of it to good causes as they earned it. WHO in these sorry times could possibly live with themselves if they didn't share their enormous good fortune. No one needs billions of $$$$ to live a happy, healthy and productive life! No one!
Jerry Conaway 4 years ago (edited)
I sincerely hope that at least one of these twits has at least a brief experience with a malfunctioning airloc while they are up there. Not because they are rich, but simply for the fact that their versions of reality in no way whatsoever matches that of the other 99% of the world.
Brendan Ike 4 years ago
Taxing billionaires 95% will simply make them less incentivised to produce that much or to ship their businesses elsewhere. So you've lost the money you would have made from taxing them 95% and lost the one you were already making from the people they employed. Not very hopeful.
#14
Robin DJW 4 years ago
We're not talking about prohibiting profits - I just want personal income taxes to keep step with reality. Even if Branson only has personal income of 3 bn/year, (1% of his net worth of 300 bn) he can make more in interest on 3 bn IN ONE YEAR than I have earned in my entire lifetime. And 1% is a lot smaller tax rate than I have to pay. Overhauling the tax laws would make us more socialists rather than fascists. The "I earned it" argument is hogwash. Amount of work expended, personally, by his own effort, is probably about what I produced in my best year. He's not so much a genius as he is a rapacious, exploitative, risk-taking person. And it's his employees who earn him the money, because, really, no one one on earth gets a 3 bn per annum salary.
Charles Ward 4 years ago
Would be cool it if was 3 billion a year. Owning a stock is not cash in the bank.. your not earning interest on the stock. The stock is gaining value. You have a comic you paid 10c for it in 1970 today it's worth 100k. You have not sold it. What do I tax? Do I send you a tax bill every year for its value increase? Do I refund you the years it drops? Having a 3 billion net worth based on stocks I own that I have not sold. Is not money until I sell the stocks.. which is when you get taxed. Anyone who has a 401k with an investment in stocks understands.. the value of the portfolio is meaningless until you start to cash it out. Now if between the time you invested, and the time you cash out it tanks.. how rich are you? Today we judge worth on the value of stock held in a portfolio.. not in real hard cash assets. Thus the reason some of these guys values explode the drop like a rock in short periods of time.
Load More Replies...
Christina Uhlir 4 years ago
No, Robert Reich, you don't need to tell that to me, and to relatively few people who live the way so they leave as small as possible foot print behind them.
sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
No need to tell me, Robert, I understand, some of them, are not human !!!
Jumpin' Jo Hosafatz 4 years ago
It is not 'Capitalism' that is the problem... it is the rampant greed and the out of control CORRUPTION that is the problem!
TheCanadianShark 4 years ago
Lytton, BC, is the town, and as a Canadian who is from and lives in BC, it is angering
Anton Byelomyttsev 4 years ago
Mr. Reich might have forgotten that Elon Musk is actually the one who`s producing electric cars and solar roofs, but who cares, right? A billionaire spent his money not the way we like it and that`s why capitalism is bad!
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
No economic system without controls can succeed. And nobody said "complete control". Regulation is not fascist. Millions left without clean drinking water and education, however, is a fascist's *dream*.
Load More Replies...
#15
Christina Uhlir 4 years ago
Nobody would be able to end world hunger if human population is out of control, the human overconsumption is out of control, and destruction of our planet is in our control to end it.... however, nobody cares to do anything about it - rich or poor and everybody in between.
Jumpin' Jo Hosafatz 4 years ago
You cannot blame these guys (no matter how gredy and corrupt they are) for world hunger and the out of control population explosion... consider there were 1 billion people on the planet in 1921, and there are over 8 billion people on the planet in 2021. (It took over 2000 years to get to 1 billion people and only 100 years to get to 8 billion people... at that rate there will be over 16 billion people on the planet in 25 years, all demanding food, water, jobs, housing, etc., etc. maybe people should stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility for their own actions.)
Charles Ward 4 years ago
The only way they could end world hunger is to liquidate all their stocks.. which would tank their companies.. destroy the stock value.. and toss 10's of thousands onto the unemployement lines. So how do I take a Paper value of a stock to convert it to cash to use for world hunger? Or do I take that paper cash, and use it to leverage loans and encourage other investors towards a technology to end world hunger? Its just kind of odd these memes that don't seem to understand cash cs stock value. And we wont even get into the work one of them is doing to develop affordable housing for the poor and vertical farming in shipping containers to help feed the poor. But okay..
Adam Jeff 4 years ago
No-one is saying they have to drop all their shares on the market on the same day. They could perfectly well cash out their stocks over a few years if they chose to do so.
Load More Replies... #16
Vivian Ashe 4 years ago
Yes! I watched this on live TV thinking how pathetic it all was. More than 50 years ago we had guys walking on the moon, but in 2021 the news outlets are gushing over the great achievement of a guy blasting himself into not-quite space for a few seconds before falling back to earth. Not only that, but we couldn't understand a word he said when he did it, because they couldn't even get his coms to transmit properly.
Channon Doughty 4 years ago
To the glory of nations, of science/engineering, and of humanity, and NOT two gigantic egos
Daniele Ribolla 4 years ago
pathetic "space" trip attempt... 1 minute of a zero-gravity flying assh*le...
NevadaJo 4 years ago
Let's not forget that what he did had already been done by British Airways/Air France with the Concorde that was in service to the public 1976-2000.... they could see the curvature of the earth...feel weightlessness and make a flight from NY to London in a little under 3 hours.
Neill Powell 4 years ago
The money you can do something alone that collectively took an entire nation to complete in 10 years.. on that day we can talk
#17
Dan Buczynski 4 years ago
Go drive around space in your stupid f*****g space convertible you asshat
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
And don't come back... Please! (*waves farewell to Bezos, Branson, Musk, et al.)
Load More Replies...
Collette Moisan 4 years ago
If the billionaires were flying into space, they wouldn't have added all that extra pollution to the air from their space shuttles, that only went to the edge & back. How freaking is that supposed to be exciting ?
Lynn Morello 4 years ago
Yup, That Maybe, Space might Swallow you up so you never darken our planet again.
Alexandru Bucur 4 years ago
Sigh. Elon should really keep his big mouth shut. The problem is he is actually doing something good for the species by making space launch reusable, more affordable and less polluting and in the process forcing the hand of "legacy space" to follow suit, but because he's such a goober on twitter and a pretty bad boss to work for he cannot help but be disliked... On the other hand, while I agree that billionaires should not exist and should be mercilessly taxed, I look at what the US has been doing with the tax money and I think maaaaybe, in the current system, I'd prefer Elon to spend five million on Starship and get it orbital this year than see five more billion be sent into the black hole that is Boeing cost-plus contracts for a rocket (SLS) that is less powerful, not reusable, very polluting (kerosene instead of methane), is built out of obsolete hardware (literally Shuttle engines/srb), is 10 years behind and waaay over budget and will probably make it to space AFTER Starship...
#18
Rei 4 years ago (edited)
Yup, and then we distribute all their wealth fairly over the world, end world hunger/thirst and other problems, and live happily ever after. 😁
Load More Replies... sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
Great idea, should have been in place, a very long time ago !!!
sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
Yes of course, great idea, the government, needs more, then perhaps with the extra money, Government could lower, the price of necessary, diabetic medication, which I feel, could have been done, a long time ago !!!
Neill Powell 4 years ago
So, basically putting a taxation on people's ability to win at capitalism through their own good ideas. that sounds so...erm communist. Let's ask this: Most people won't even have a NET WORTH near $1 million. Net worth = value - liabilities (house car, debt, etc). if you HAD a N.w of $1m how much money do you think you can convince people to loan you, or invest in your next big-idea? $50k? $20K? Now how about if your n.w was $100m? Maybe $2-3m?.. See where this is going?
#19
Lynn Morello 4 years ago
Just want to be able to pay our rents and buy food without having to have 3 and 4 jobs.
Leesa DeAndrea 4 years ago
Or having to share with several other people in order to pay the rent.
Load More Replies...
Ozacoter 4 years ago
They are talking here about fair salaries. What is theft is how kuch profit these people make out of the worl of their employees while they earn a misery
Load More Replies...
#20
Jessica Combrink 4 years ago
Mandela once said, "A person who does nothing for their community is not worth remembering when they die."
Adriaan Verhelle 4 years ago
So flight travel made cheaply available through ryanair, package delivery to your door via amazon, solar panels via solar city and battery packs + electric vehicles via tesla has not yet made the lives of millions more comfortable?
Load More Replies...
Vicki Perizzolo 4 years ago
to be fair we have had more than a few extremely wealthy people donate their money away but not until they were dead... sorry Bill, moving your money into a trust that earns more money than it gives away is NOT giving your money away
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
The inheritance tax should be increased to 100% on every penny over a million dollars.
Andrea Huber-Murphy 4 years ago
It used to be that way, though. That's why we have a Smithsonian Institution, a Carnegie Hall, and many, many universities, hospitals, libraries, etc. named after the wealthy families of yesteryear. It's the concept of "Noblesse oblige" hereby the wealthy feel obligated to give back to society and make it better for everyone else. So much so that they would compete to out-do each other in acts of philanthropy. All these "new money" guys have not taken the lesson to heart. Gates started off okay, but now he has some kind of god-complex, and the others, who the heck knows?
Karen Lyon 4 years ago (edited)
Saw this on a billboard, once: "He who dies with the most toys...is still dead." Pretty well sums up my attitude.
#21
#22
Christina Uhlir 4 years ago
And that our planet burns is the handy work of all humans - consumers on this planet, not just billionaires'.
Richard Henderson 4 years ago
Rockets burn hydrogen and oxygen and make water as a result of the reaction.
Christina Uhlir 4 years ago (edited)
Good, we need water, our planet is drying up......so, make more trips to the space.
Load More Replies... #23
Mykel Gordon 4 years ago
It was the wealthiest Europeans who sent expeditions to explore North America and elsewhere. Should they just have stayed home?
Rhonda Beraun 4 years ago
Yes, then my ancestors wouldn't have had their cultures destroyed, their land stolen and their descendants. marginalized
Load More Replies... Michael Se 4 years ago
They made their billions by not paying people enough to feed and clothe themselves. Numbnut.
Load More Replies...
LazyPanda 4 years ago
No I believe people are referring to using their brains and resources to help solve the "logistical" problems of humans not having basic needs. Remember, poor people are not a separate, more stupid species than non-poor people. They simply have little access to opportunity. If those "poor people" are given a reset and leg to stand on, sure some might abuse it, however the vast majority would probably use their own brains to continue the efforts of ending the absurd systems that keep people down simply because of where or to whom they were born. Humanity can only go up if everybody comes up. There's more brainpower, more resources, more genius to go around when everyone has a chance. No one's suggesting that billionaires have to pay everyone's bills for life. They are suggesting that billionaires only accrue that amount of money by climbing on the backs of their fellow humans, skirting taxes, paying low wages, killing competition, in the first place
Load More Replies...
#24
sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
If they reached the pearly gates, God will ask," what did you do with your life" ???
Load More Replies... #25
Axolotl King 4 years ago
Or have them pay for chemo and insulin so that people who need it can afford it
Christina Uhlir 4 years ago
...... to pay to educate people so they would never develop cancer.
Load More Replies...
Isaac Harvey 4 years ago
As a survivor of childhood brain cancer(August 2013 diagnosis) and epilepsy(May 2020 diagnosis), I cannot agree with this any more. A brief, comprehensive list of my experiences: 3 resections, a laser ablation, 15 months of chemotherapy, maybe 3 or 4 ER visits, and countless MRIs. And I still need MRIs on a regular basis to monitor my tumor's growth. And don't even get me started on my epilepsy prescription, which has been changed something like 4 times.
Christina Uhlir 4 years ago
What about do something - a lot actually - that children do not get cancer?
Vicki Perizzolo 4 years ago
heck, they could buy Brazil, Indonesia & Madagascar and rebuild the rainforests WHILE they do cancer research and not notice the money was gone
sharron lynn parsons 4 years ago
Someone said to me, there is an answer, for cancer, we will not be told, as then the flow, of money will stop, for many years, billions have poured in !!!
Z Alexi 4 years ago
Paranoid know-nothing. Read about cancer research [they're oddles of medical journals]...engage brain before opening obnoxious mouth.
Load More Replies... #26
#27
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Yes, those poor billionaires. They'll be suffering so when they're still billionaires when paying a living wage and allowing bathroom breaks...
Scagsy 4 years ago
Exactly. That's the most annoying part of it. Through his vast wealth, Bezos has the ability to be the best employer on the planet. But he chooses to treat his workforce with contempt. He also chooses to avoid tax by funnelling his profits through various havens and loopholes. Those are his choices and they all add up to make him a horrible human being. When he dies, he won't need a coat where he's going.
Load More Replies... Ozacoter 4 years ago (edited)
Tell that to people who can afford healthcare in Belgium or Sweden instead of dying like in USA just for being poor
Load More Replies...
#28
Vicki Perizzolo 4 years ago
how about reforesting the planet???? cleaning up our oceans?? fixing our climate??
Lynn Morello 4 years ago
Maybe Dean should run for the Presidential Elections, At least he has his head screwed on the right way.
Christina Uhlir 4 years ago
He does not have his head screwed on that much right way when he forgets about wild lands, depletion of natural resources, pollution, global warming, and all the destruction, pain and suffering people cause.
Load More Replies... 
#29
Lynn Morello 4 years ago
They did not use Surplus funds, They used money that was there to help people pay for good quality low cost Health Care.
#30
Vicki Perizzolo 4 years ago
it's a travesty and one we've been supporting for decades.. just like big energy subsidies and cigarettes decades ago.. the stupid have been selling out to big money
Lotten Kalenius 4 years ago
I'm pretty convinced Benjamin Tang is immensely sarcastic, no need to downvote :) But hey, if we The People can keep our sanity after this crazy macho race, then we should really look into some how to-videos on revolution...
Freya the Wanderer 4 years ago
I suspect he's just a stooge of the 1%, well-trained to brainlessly parrot B.S.
Load More Replies...
ShadowPhoen1x 3 years ago
So f*****g pissed that they pay less than we do in taxes and our taxpayer money goes to moving their joyrides to new mexico
#34
Robin DJW 4 years ago
assume 20 million people in the USA might get kicked out. assume 3 people per household, then 6,666,666.7 households are to be evicted. assume $1,200 monthly rent per household, then each household owes $14,400 rent for one year, the Year of Covid, So 6,666,666.7 households * 14400 back rent/household = 96 bn rent owing for last 12 mos. If each of the three 300 bn dollar billionaires chipped in 32±1 bn, it would pay 12 months rent (perhaps paid directly to the landlords) for every household facing eviction. If uncle sam chipped in chipped in equally, it would drop to $24 bn. Surely the 4 richest entities in the world could dig this up. Of course, this is a lot of assumptions, but they seem reasonable. All each has to do is sell of a few subsidiary companies and there it is.
#35
StrawberryParfait 4 years ago
Elon's emo boi poetry sucks. Just when you think he couldn't be a bigger twat, there he goes again.
Robin DJW 4 years ago
To Elon: Space may represent hope, but it's theoretical and won't become salvation for long past any of our lifetimes. People are hungry and without homes NOW. Paleeze, man. Your brand of snake oil is a snare and a delusion.
Adriaan Verhelle 4 years ago
That same reasoning fueled the massive consumption of cheap carbon fuels these past 200 years even though the photovoltaic effect and an electric car were already a reality in the 1800. And now that we are faced with the problems of that historical fact, you want to use the same logic? Man, history really repeats itself.
Load More Replies...
#37
jevais 4 years ago
Not share but pay federal taxes according to their wealth.
Load More Replies...
#38
#39
#40
Truth Monster 4 years ago
the US government has been trying to accomplish some of these aims for literally generations. Throwing money at the problem, which gets siphoned into someone's son/daughter/nephew/niece's fake charity.
J Gund 4 years ago
Yes, because it is better for the poors to die because they can't afford healthcare. And the middle class to become poor due to medical debt. Lets give billionaires another tax break and use tax money to fund their space race pissing contest.
Load More Replies...
#46
#52
Z Alexi 4 years ago
Dandy Andy ain't dandy. "Their $" is ours...if they paid their fair share of taxes [They pay million$ to accountants to manipulate #s & spit at us, same as Trump which is why his a/c'ant got indicted (w/millions of pgs of proof!) & he's not even a CPA]. Rather simple, Brandy Andy...try getting sober before typing. These greedheads know what they should do...just look at Smithsonian Inst [$508,318 "to the people of the U.S. to found such an institution~~in 1846 dollars!], Carnegie Hall/Carnegie Library, hospitals named after donors... look around, boys! Smithsonian was "for the increase & diffusion of knowledge"~~we learned zero from Branson's 15-min ego trip which Alan Shepard did in 1961...in 15 mins...which the D**k repeated 60 yrs later.
Dandy Andy 4 years ago
Unpopular opinion: It's not up to individuals like Branson and Musk to end world hunger and they can spend their billions how they like. Also, classic internet judge and jury here where everybody thinks they know exactly what should be done and how - here's an idea, if you feel like you know what Branson and Musk 'should' be doing with their money then go ahead and do what they have done and then use all your billions to fix the world.
StrawberryParfait 4 years ago
Sucking their collective d**k won't get you a ride on their toy rocket ship, you know.
Load More Replies...
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Rei 4 years ago
Glad to see that many people share the same view as I do on this. As much as I myself am fascinated by space, astronomy and space travel I stick to my mom's wisdom (or common sense). As mom would say in a strict tone: no you can't have a new pet just because your old one is dying! No, you can't start space travel and inhabit a new planet unless you take on the responsibility of your old planet! Each one of us will be held accountable one day what we did with our resources and life before God. So help them God.
Mike Crow 4 years ago
Go talk to the conservatives in the world and ask why they will not support universal healthcare or caring for the poor in their own nations.
Load More Replies...
Vivian Ashe 4 years ago
I would argue that vaccines, motorcars, and even airplanes had a real world potential usefulness for everyday people. And not just on some abstract, "trickle down" level. Virgin Galactic's whole business model is to sell the equivalent of extremely expensive, environmentally unfriendly carnival rides to the ultra-wealthy. Basically, Branson just made the world's most expensive social influencer video, so it's hard to blame people for feeling the money could have been better spent on something else.
Load More Replies...
Cori 4 years ago
Meanwhile, I'm debating whether or not to reapply for food stamps because I intentionally went off them when we got our covid stimulus checks. I genuinely try to only take what I absolutely need. I've made that stimulus money really stretch, but it's starting to get a little thin and grocery shopping is becoming stressful again.
Rob Woodman 4 years ago
And it’s not going to get better as inflation rises.
Load More Replies... Truth Monster 4 years ago
People want the wealth because they think it will solve all the world's issues. It won't. You can't fix hunger in war-torn countries whose warlords are using the food to feed their armies. You can't use money to stop ideological wars. In fact, if the billionaires were to divest themselves of their wealth, its likely they would devalue the dollar and create massive inflation. I know its a bit ancient, but consider what happened to the price of gold after Mansa Musa dropped some of his wealth. Complete economic chaos and it did not benefit the poor and hungry at all.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Wars are almost always about resources: oil, land, water, etc. Ideologies cover for those. Stalin didn't want Poland for communism. He wanted land and prestige. Ditto Hitler. (Poland is good farmland, hence its desirability.) The US did not invade Iraq over WMDs as much as playing politics in the Middle East, over a resource: OIL. ALSO: We're not talking about just selling all their sh*t. If these billions were given to rebuild infrastructure (which is the real aim of many of above tweets), then it's not divestment of wealth but investment.
Load More Replies...
Joselito El Zapatero 4 years ago
None of them people commenting are doing anything themselves. Actually, most billionaires do plenty of stuff. F*****g hypocrites.
Luis 4 years ago
So... you think the money to go to the space just disappear? Goes to pay engineers, pilots, buy land, buy materials, rent, suppliers, fees, taxes etc. And are generating jobs!!! In Brownsville,Tx where Space X is, it's getting back to life the city... that's is helping to grow again the city, that help to stop the hunger... If you want to see them, buying food and giving it to poor people, that at the end does not stop the hunger just put it on pauses until the money runs out... This guys are doing what they do best... continue making money and spread it to many other people...
paul 4 years ago
true! A few people here expects rich guys to solve every problem on earth, we should ask ourselves what did we do to add our value. I'm not in a position to judge others, my opinionis I think you're right. I'm pretty sure, the companies they created bring bread on the table of a lot of people many of us can never do. Everyone can help. Mother Theresa did not wait to be rich to help. and no, I'm not millionaire. I've slept in the street. I've had empty hands. Not a reason to keep grudge against people who manage to gather a big amount of wealth.
Load More Replies...
Guy MacGregor 4 years ago
I strongly disagree. This just lower the cost of space. Thank to them, it become cheaper and cheaper to go to space. And yes, sending meteorological satellites, providing worldwide internet access, etc. are benefits for the whole planet! This helps preventing useless death from disasters (Hurricanes, Tsunamis... Detected by stellites) and help rescue parties to save people by giving them communication tools. But noooo, if you don't hand a loaf of bread, you're not helping... Aircrafts were invented for fun, then war, and now it's useful for fires, rescue, organs transport... Rockets were invented for war, they now go in a peaceful and useful way for everyone. Why do you complain? They do that because they can! Because they have money and hopes! It's way better than seeing them buying yet another yacht or on drugs in my humble opinion.
Rob Woodman 4 years ago
Exactly. Plus Musk’s cheap satellite internet that will cover people unable to get service, which will allow for better educational opportunities etc.
Load More Replies... Bel 4 years ago
I 100% agree with the sentiments in these tweets. However, I'm pretty sure many of these tweeters are millionaires themselves. How much money have they given to philanthropic causes aimed at ending world hunger? Billionaires don't become billionaires through their generous spirits, and they probably couldn't care less what others think of them. A more productive use of energy would be promoting and donating to worthy causes ourselves. Be the change you want to see in the world.
ProfessionalTimeWaster 4 years ago (edited)
They are just good people who want to end poverty by taxing people richer than them.
Load More Replies... Vivian Ashe 4 years ago
I don't really have a problem with rich people spending money on extravagant things, provided they're also doing good things for humanity with their money. And maybe Branson, Musk, and Bezos are doing plenty of good things with their money. But if they are, why isn't the media more focused on reporting about that? Why did we have to endure hours of live coverage of that "edge of space" flight that overshadowed all other world news, as newscasters gushed completely uncritically about what an amazing achievement it was? It was practically an advertisement for Virgin Galactic.
VeryDarkMatter 4 years ago
I am all for ending world hunger and poverty. But money is only partially the problem. There is a lot of aid now already. But it doesn't reach the people who need it most. The relevant countries need stable governments, who really cares about the wellbeing of the population. Instead this countries are suffering by corrupt, selfish, powerhungry governments, religious criminals, terror organizations and wars. The aid is right going into their pockets. Almost nothing of it reaches the starving population. No money in the world will end poverty and world hunger if this fundamental problems are still not solved.
ProfessionalTimeWaster 4 years ago
I read somewhere that more money was spent on people who help the poor than the actual poor.
Load More Replies... Rei 4 years ago
Glad to see that many people share the same view as I do on this. As much as I myself am fascinated by space, astronomy and space travel I stick to my mom's wisdom (or common sense). As mom would say in a strict tone: no you can't have a new pet just because your old one is dying! No, you can't start space travel and inhabit a new planet unless you take on the responsibility of your old planet! Each one of us will be held accountable one day what we did with our resources and life before God. So help them God.
Mike Crow 4 years ago
Go talk to the conservatives in the world and ask why they will not support universal healthcare or caring for the poor in their own nations.
Load More Replies... Vivian Ashe 4 years ago
I would argue that vaccines, motorcars, and even airplanes had a real world potential usefulness for everyday people. And not just on some abstract, "trickle down" level. Virgin Galactic's whole business model is to sell the equivalent of extremely expensive, environmentally unfriendly carnival rides to the ultra-wealthy. Basically, Branson just made the world's most expensive social influencer video, so it's hard to blame people for feeling the money could have been better spent on something else.
Load More Replies... Cori 4 years ago
Meanwhile, I'm debating whether or not to reapply for food stamps because I intentionally went off them when we got our covid stimulus checks. I genuinely try to only take what I absolutely need. I've made that stimulus money really stretch, but it's starting to get a little thin and grocery shopping is becoming stressful again.
Rob Woodman 4 years ago
And it’s not going to get better as inflation rises.
Load More Replies... Truth Monster 4 years ago
People want the wealth because they think it will solve all the world's issues. It won't. You can't fix hunger in war-torn countries whose warlords are using the food to feed their armies. You can't use money to stop ideological wars. In fact, if the billionaires were to divest themselves of their wealth, its likely they would devalue the dollar and create massive inflation. I know its a bit ancient, but consider what happened to the price of gold after Mansa Musa dropped some of his wealth. Complete economic chaos and it did not benefit the poor and hungry at all.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Wars are almost always about resources: oil, land, water, etc. Ideologies cover for those. Stalin didn't want Poland for communism. He wanted land and prestige. Ditto Hitler. (Poland is good farmland, hence its desirability.) The US did not invade Iraq over WMDs as much as playing politics in the Middle East, over a resource: OIL. ALSO: We're not talking about just selling all their sh*t. If these billions were given to rebuild infrastructure (which is the real aim of many of above tweets), then it's not divestment of wealth but investment.
Load More Replies... Joselito El Zapatero 4 years ago
None of them people commenting are doing anything themselves. Actually, most billionaires do plenty of stuff. F*****g hypocrites.
Luis 4 years ago
So... you think the money to go to the space just disappear? Goes to pay engineers, pilots, buy land, buy materials, rent, suppliers, fees, taxes etc. And are generating jobs!!! In Brownsville,Tx where Space X is, it's getting back to life the city... that's is helping to grow again the city, that help to stop the hunger... If you want to see them, buying food and giving it to poor people, that at the end does not stop the hunger just put it on pauses until the money runs out... This guys are doing what they do best... continue making money and spread it to many other people...
paul 4 years ago
true! A few people here expects rich guys to solve every problem on earth, we should ask ourselves what did we do to add our value. I'm not in a position to judge others, my opinionis I think you're right. I'm pretty sure, the companies they created bring bread on the table of a lot of people many of us can never do. Everyone can help. Mother Theresa did not wait to be rich to help. and no, I'm not millionaire. I've slept in the street. I've had empty hands. Not a reason to keep grudge against people who manage to gather a big amount of wealth.
Load More Replies... Guy MacGregor 4 years ago
I strongly disagree. This just lower the cost of space. Thank to them, it become cheaper and cheaper to go to space. And yes, sending meteorological satellites, providing worldwide internet access, etc. are benefits for the whole planet! This helps preventing useless death from disasters (Hurricanes, Tsunamis... Detected by stellites) and help rescue parties to save people by giving them communication tools. But noooo, if you don't hand a loaf of bread, you're not helping... Aircrafts were invented for fun, then war, and now it's useful for fires, rescue, organs transport... Rockets were invented for war, they now go in a peaceful and useful way for everyone. Why do you complain? They do that because they can! Because they have money and hopes! It's way better than seeing them buying yet another yacht or on drugs in my humble opinion.
Rob Woodman 4 years ago
Exactly. Plus Musk’s cheap satellite internet that will cover people unable to get service, which will allow for better educational opportunities etc.
Load More Replies... Bel 4 years ago
I 100% agree with the sentiments in these tweets. However, I'm pretty sure many of these tweeters are millionaires themselves. How much money have they given to philanthropic causes aimed at ending world hunger? Billionaires don't become billionaires through their generous spirits, and they probably couldn't care less what others think of them. A more productive use of energy would be promoting and donating to worthy causes ourselves. Be the change you want to see in the world.
ProfessionalTimeWaster 4 years ago (edited)
They are just good people who want to end poverty by taxing people richer than them.
Load More Replies... Vivian Ashe 4 years ago
I don't really have a problem with rich people spending money on extravagant things, provided they're also doing good things for humanity with their money. And maybe Branson, Musk, and Bezos are doing plenty of good things with their money. But if they are, why isn't the media more focused on reporting about that? Why did we have to endure hours of live coverage of that "edge of space" flight that overshadowed all other world news, as newscasters gushed completely uncritically about what an amazing achievement it was? It was practically an advertisement for Virgin Galactic.
VeryDarkMatter 4 years ago
I am all for ending world hunger and poverty. But money is only partially the problem. There is a lot of aid now already. But it doesn't reach the people who need it most. The relevant countries need stable governments, who really cares about the wellbeing of the population. Instead this countries are suffering by corrupt, selfish, powerhungry governments, religious criminals, terror organizations and wars. The aid is right going into their pockets. Almost nothing of it reaches the starving population. No money in the world will end poverty and world hunger if this fundamental problems are still not solved.
ProfessionalTimeWaster 4 years ago
I read somewhere that more money was spent on people who help the poor than the actual poor.
Load More Replies...
Related on Bored Panda
