“Billionaires Do Not Need to Go to Space”

Notes

Billionaire Richard Branson launched to the edge of space, marking the beginning of Virgin Galactic, a commercial space travel company
The launch was celebrated as the “dawn of a new space age” with public spectacle and advertising for the Virgin Group
The same week, Death Valley recorded the hottest temperature ever, 130° F, during a major heatwave affecting millions of Americans
The flight of billionaires into space reflects a growing trend of the wealthy class seeking distractions away from Earth amidst the worsening climate crisis
Space tourism promises access to space but is only accessible to the extremely wealthy with ticket prices ranging from $250, 000 t o$ 28 million
While billionaires explore space, environmental issues remain, such as the Amazon rainforest becoming a carbon source rather than a sink
Billionaire-funded space companies have heavily lobbied the U.S. government to clear regulations for the space tourism industry
The exclusivity of space travel really highlights the inequality between the wealthy and the general population

Billionaires are using space travel as a luxury distraction amidst a worsening climate crisis on Earth.
The exclusivity of space travel really highlights inequality and how detached the hyper-wealthy are compared to the general population.
In my opinion, at least, wealth should be redirected towards preserving what’s here on Earth, rather than trying to escape into space.

Should wealth and resources that are being used for space tourism be used towards solving the existing environmental crisis on Earth?