Dear Richard and Jeff and Elon,
What’s up this summer, boyz? Oh, right – you guys are. Pretty high up there, in fact. Cool, cool.
I know that there are some people out here who are pretty amazed with your fun, little personal space race game that you are playing. There are people who think that your trips 50 miles above the Earth are technologically innovative and will advance scientific discoveries. There are those who applaud your competitions to win the NASA shuttle contract. I know that there are hundreds of people just waiting to pay a couple hundred thousand dollars to jump onboard and experience a minute of weightlessness and fulfill their childhood dreams of being an astronaut.
But have you forgotten that there are millions of kids on this planet who have much simpler childhood dreams?
Dreams of having enough food each day so that they aren’t going to bed hungry every night?
Dreams of clean drinking water so that they aren’t ingesting toxins when they get a cup of water from a polluted stream or fountain?
Dreams of getting a vaccine for any number of deadly or debilitating diseases so that they can grow to adulthood?
Dreams of a place to go to school, or to have internet access or simply some fucking books to learn and to be able to make a living wage someday?
Yep, a trip to the edge of space is I’m sure extremely exciting. The view must be downright breathtaking. I know I’ll never be able to afford a trip like that in my lifetime, and I’m OK with that. (I’ve seen dozens of space movies and documentaries.)
Yet I bet the draw for you guys is much more intense though, since you’ve probably seen and experienced all the best places down here. You are undoubtedly familiar – and likely bored – with 5-star hotels, private islands, and luxurious yachts. And it’s so difficult to find good help these days, amiright?
But when was the last time you walked through the streets of any large city and experienced the homeless encampments up close? Saw hundreds of people who sleep on concrete every night, with all their belongings in grocery carts covered with trash bags?
When was the last time you paid a visit to a domestic violence shelter and saw women and children with only the clothes on their backs, with no funds and very little hope?
When was the last time you were in a tiny apartment without air conditioning, living through days with temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit? Or were forced to abandon your home due to uncontrolled wildfires or flooding?
When was the last time you feared leaving your house because of potential gun violence in your neighborhood, or due to PTSD from previous violence?
Can you understand why there are a whole lot of people who are not thrilled nor impressed with your space flight achievements? Who think that the world has a few more pressing problems to solve over stupidly rich people who want to experience something novel and exhilarating? Something that lasts a few minutes, and basically burns up a shit ton of money?
We all get that people who work hard and make a lot of money have the right to spend that money as they see fit. But your tax situations are a bit sketch and really? Wouldn’t you rather be remembered for the good you did with all your success? For making the world a bit better for countless humans who could really use your resources? The hungry, the homeless, the battered, the hopeless?
We’re dealing with millions of people dead this past year from a worldwide pandemic and millions more who are already feeling the negative effects of global climate change. We’ve got big time problems right here where gravity is in full swing 24/7. Do we really need short trips to zero-gravity for entitled people’s entertainment? Is the right to build a freaking spaceship really that important in the grand scheme of things?
Gentlemen, I suggest you seriously consider these other options:
Feed some hungry children.
Help vaccinate people from disease.
Fund climate change research and gun violence research.
Help educate people about racism.
Help end poverty.
Billions of people right here on Earth could use some help. Your egomaniacal competitions about who has the bigger cylindrical plaything are not a good look.
We don’t need your vanity projects. We need your compassion and humanity.
Do you have any of that left?
Signed,
A pissed off Mom
