Ever have a day where you just need a rant? If I'm annoyed by something, usually I find the best thing is to write down all my thoughts on paper, rant it all out in writing, and then move on with my life! Normally I do by hand, by hey, if I put it here I might give someone else something to consider... or provide some entertainment! I won't even proof-read this one because reading it through will only get me angry again once I've ranted it all out, so apologies in advance for any typos!
The source of my current annoyance is certainly not something I ever thought I'd find myself blogging about: Jeff Bezos. Richard Branson. Elon Musk.
These men are the kind of people who make me sick. Don't worry, I'm not going to go all feminist in this - women doing what they do would make me just as angry. It's not their money or their personalities, it's just one thing this week which is my absolute trigger...
Space travel.
Recreational space travel.
They all want to make leaving the surface of this planet into yet another business opportunity that they can use to line their already platinum-encrusted-with-diamond pockets. Is that such a bad thing? If they can do it and people are willing to spend their money on it, then why not? Because we live in a world that is DYING. Dying because we are using too many resources. Dying because we have pumped so much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that our planet is set to more like 10 degrees of warming than the 1.5 degrees that the Paris agreement set out. Dying because selfish rich people who actually have the option to choose the sustainable alternatives are choosing to do whatever they want and disregard the planet entirely. Seriously, have you HEARD of Climate Change?!!
Don't get me wrong, I can see the beauty of it. But I'll see it from the ground thanks.
Somehow, Elon Musk annoys me even more than the other two, because he's done so much in terms of all of the developments of Tesla and electric car technology. He has built an entire business empire, far greater than most of the rest of us could ever dream of, surrounding a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative. He COULD be the single greatest ever entrepreneur when it comes to global emissions reductions. And yet. Rather than use his incredible technological advances to continue reducing emissions or even removing CO2 from the atmosphere, he would rather spend billions of dollars (money which could all be going to protecting the environment or helping less fortunate people to adapt to the threats of a warming climate) on firing rockets into space so that a few selfish rich folk can experience a few minutes of weightlessness and realise for sure that the Earth isn't flat.
THERE IS NO PLANET B.
I don't care whether Mars could sustain life. I don't give a damn if you want to be able to claim that you've flown higher than most other people. NEWS FLASH GUYS! You're already at the top! Continually destroying the planet doesn't make you any more impressive. Doesn't get you any more friends. Isn't going to make you any more memorable once you're dead.
Please. I am begging you. Use your power and your money to make a change that your children would be proud of, by giving them a future. Sure, they're going to be some of the richest kids ever to exist when they receive their inheritance, but what's the point of that if there is nothing to buy. What's the point of money when Earth's ecosystems are so destroyed that there is no food available. Please, unless you can look your children in the eye and say to them that you are doing everything in your power to make the world a better for them, then you're not doing enough. And you are not. doing. enough.
Forget leaving the Earth, and try to protect what we already have. Forget exploiting every fragment of unused space to earn more money, and plant a forest. Forget trying to blast a few rich people out of the atmosphere, and try to actually help clean up the air we breathe.
Forget destroying the planet, and try actually making what you're worth really worth something.
Rant over... Breathe... Remember what you're fighting for... After all, you won't find this on Mars:
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