B for Branson, B for Billionaires, and B for Bullshit
From July 2021, when a billionaire touched new heights of self-unawareness and stupidity
"Imagine if we could do this, what you can do...", said the 70+ billionaire Richard Branson into the camera yesterday as he became the first guy to probably take 3 pisses in an hour in space. However, I followed Oldie's advice and I did imagine. I imagined that we could vaccinate over 90 countries that had no COVID-19 vaccine stocks last week. I imagined that we could end the pandemic that has taken over half a million lives. I imagined that my mom could finally not have a throng of patients waiting eagerly outside in the outpatient while she's catching up on a year of backlogged surgeries. I imagined that I could finally go to work without the mask or the worry of getting the Delta+. And I imagined that I could meet my family after the exile of 702 days. But I cannot do any of this. So, then I realized how fundamentally morally retarded Branson's statement was.
However, Branson is not alone in his retardation. On the contrary, his company seems to grow and several others out of the Billionaire club seem desperate for membership. Before I make the commies too orgasmic, I should clarify - I am perfectly okay with people becoming billionaires. In fact, I dream of becoming a millionaire someday (hopefully soon). I am not interested in the billion really, but a few million do sound sweet. What I take a deep issue with is the way in which people become billionaires. Most billionaires today act against fair capitalism. They want to monopolize the markets, cut the competition, and squeeze the trickling down of wealth. There is an asinine argument that "why do you care what they do with their money and why do you feel entitled to their wealth". My interest and entitlement come from 3 main reasons -
1. Almost all billionaires do not pay taxes to the extent that they should. They should pay their fair share (i.e. upwards of 30-45% of their net worth, depending on the country of the primary residence). Right now we have 3288 billionaires globally whose combined wealth is 10.2 trillion USD. Pay the global governments 3 trillion USD (greater than the GDP of the bottom 50 countries BTW) in tax and then I don't care if they burn the remaining pile of cash.
2. Most billionaires make so much money precisely because they pay their workers awfully poorly and force local governments into exploitative deals under the garb of "business opportunities". Start paying your lowest worker an above-decent living (with healthcare, social security, and assistance with children's education), and again I don't care if you burn with the remaining pile of cash.
3. Most (not all though) of the billion-plus business models are putting a catastrophic ecological cost in terms of everything from pollution and unmanageable carbon footprint to waste of physical space and natural resources. Once again, stop messing with my planet and you can go wherever you want to go to take a piss in space.
Till then, I'm going to care and I'm going to feel entitled because it is not their wealth alone. They have that wealth because they are stealing from my taxes, my community, and my planet.
Also, this was not space exploration. This was not a big moment for space science. More than 13 countries have sent people to space using their public-funded innovative programs since the 1970s. And it was definitely not a big moment for humanity that's currently living in the burning hell of a pandemic. This was a win for Branson in his dick-measuring contest against Bezos and a footstone for the commercial space industry. Would you consider the release of the Samsung Galaxy 3 a big day for innovation in global communication science and tech? You probably won't. So, stop being gullible and don't buy or sell the false narrative of "space exploration".
Yesterday was literally the first step towards the billionaire escape plan in the next 30-40 years. When people will read bedtime stories to their first-generation Mars immigrant kids about how they saw a burning planet through the window of the last space flight, the kids will ask who started all this - yesterday will be the plot point of that story. I get the excitement about space tourism; it's of course justified for people who'll get to enjoy it. I just think the title of "dreamers" is bullshit. That should be reserved for those trying to save the earth than those spending the last dollar to flee it.