Jeff Bezos has attained the crown of world's richest man, and he wears it proudly. He is arguably both fiscally and emotionally disconnected not just from a majority of humanity, but from a majority of what makes us human. And now he looks to fulfill total separation by leaving Earth's atmosphere via means of a personally funded rocket ship. A means once only reserved for developed nations and their people to unite them in realizing a more noble pursuit: "to inspire and serve...and to benefit the quality of life on Earth". Rather than: “I want to go on this flight because it’s the thing I’ve wanted to do all my life,” [Jeff] Bezos said in a video posted on social media. His brother, Mark Bezos, will also be on board, according to the video. (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/07/the-price-tag-to-go-to-space-with-jeff-bezos-is-now-at-2point8-million.html
Well, now that we've truly established that this is truly just about Jeff, it will make it that much easier to make my point...
In a country where people go bankrupt and homeless due to medical debt...
where people must choose between going hungry or purchasing lifesaving medications...
where people don't have access to clean drinking water...
where secured housing isn't a guarantee...
We must ask ourselves at what point is enough enough? No billionaire's wealth was created through raw entrepreneurial spirit. The excessive accumulation and hoards of wealth were not earned through "hard work", at least not the hard work or dedication of one individual. Billionaires continue to use working class folks as a springboard to elite status where money suddenly becomes no object, and the rest of us are literally left on Earth to fight for crumbs amongst ourselves. Why do we care more about protecting the right for a handful of rich individuals like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, or Warren Buffett to hoard gargantuan amounts of wealth, than we care to implement policy and law to ensure that everyone pays their fair share?
The recent billionaire space odyssey competition is a slap in the face to working class folks struggling paycheck to paycheck just to survive. Whether they are struggling with food insecurity, healthcare, shelter, or access to clean water, these issues have a price tag that isn't quite as unfathomable as the idle billionaires, corporate lobbyists, and Washington bureaucrats would have you believe. Endless studies have shown that it's fiscally cheaper to move forward with policy that would fully eradicate the deepest ills of our society rather than through an incrementalist policy approach, which seems to be Congress' preferred method.
Even if we agreed to disagree on exactly their contributed societal value or their individual work ethic involved in accumulating this hoard of wealth, there are real, tangible, earth-bound issues that could be resolved if even a handful of these billionaires came together to decide that it would be so. Eradicating hunger, homelessness, and poverty all have a price tag, but so do multiple yachts and mansions I suppose. It's absolutely dumbfounding when you realize that these horrible concepts that plague our society are not foreign to people like Musk, Bezos, Gates, or Buffett. Every day these men make a conscious choice to not fully resolve these at least ONE of these issues when clearly they have the wealth and resources to do so.
Society is tired of propping up these handfuls of "good natured entrepreneurs" only to later see pennies of their accumulated stash returned as "thanks" and "charitable contributions". Only billionaires and greedy corporations exist in the way of turning philanthropy into sound public policy. Poverty, hunger, homelessness, good health, and well-being are simply matters that could be resolved through robust policy and bold political will.
Billionaires and corporations should pay their fair share. Until then, Jeff Bezos can stay in space until he finds which intergalactic asteroid core contains his compassion and humanity.