I am surprised at how mixed my feelings have turned out to be about Billionaires in Space.
My first reaction was completely negative. I was annoyed that there are people so rich they could toss billions of dollars at what is really little more than a cool hobby.
Then I had the satiric reaction. Hey, put Donald Trump in a capsule and tell him we’re sending him to be emperor of Uranus.
Then I wondered why when I was a kid, no one made the jokes about the seventh planet that everyone seems to make now.
The real problem isn’t how billionaires spend their money. It’s the system that has allowed them to have truly obscene levels of wealth. Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world (except for maybe Vladimir Putin), and his wealth increased by something like $80 billion during the pandemic.
It’s nice that he made $200 million in charitable donations, but consider this: For someone worth roughly $200 billion, he donated one-tenth of one percent of his wealth.
The amount of money we’re looking at her is staggering. If Bezos were to make a donation of $1 billion, reducing his wealth by half of one percent, that donation could create a thousand new millionaires.
There are plenty of people who think the only real charity is that which people choose to do, and that taxing them so the government can help people is somehow evil.
We call these people morons.
Well, libertarians. Not an exact synonym but close.
The problem with this thinking is that people help those they want to help. The cute baby gets help, the ugly baby doesn’t.
Interesting charities get plenty of help, and the problem is that when individuals provide charity, it often comes with moral decisions. My wife and I have three main charities beyond what we give at church.
We donate every year to a program helping support orphans in Uganda with AIDS, to St. Jude’s Children’s Research and to Father Flanagan’s Boys Town. We could give more than we do, but we’re retired on a fixed income and are being a little bit cautious.
We’re not in Bezos’ league.
Which charities would I support more heavily if I had lots of money to give?
As you can see from what we do give, we focus on children in need. I believe one of the worst things we do in this country is essentially blame children for having crummy parents. I would do more for homeless children and for those who have no parents. I don’t think there’s anything more crucial to the future of our country — and even our world.
As for other worlds, I’ll leave that to Bezos and his fellow billionaire astronauts.
I do think it’s important to look beyond our planet and find a better future.
It’s a worthy goal.