Mother Earth is dying, Bezos. It’s your duty to help save it, not try to develop some means to escape.
4
Billionaires and their toys.
These people are nothing but trouble. Billionaires are all insatiable, needy people. Think of this: a billionaire is a person who once had $800,000,000 and... it was not enough.
These are hoarders. Do not trust them. Every penny counts to them. The only things that seem to matter to them are money and ego-strokes. Did Elon Musk fix the water in Flint, as promised? Nope. Did Ted Turner ever give that fabled billion dollars to the United Nations? Nope. Michael Bloomberg delivers finger-wagging lectures on what he calls "the invyermin" while maintaining 6 homes on three continents and listing his hobby as helicopter flying.
Now with this one it's... the moon?
How pathetic these people are.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
5
Yet another burst of hot air from another oracle of Silicon Valley. Really Jeff? 1000,000,000,000 people? When does your reproductive/cloning program begin
2
On it's own merits it is as humans and other species have done always - migrate. It takes visionaries to lead the way. Bravo to him and his pioneering visions backed by big bucks. (I recall Amazon when I bought my first online book!)
That said "a trillion people". Get real. Handle the issues on Earth as else-wise as we migrate with these issues that we have not yet resolved on Mother Earth - a most beautiful planet, they will tag along with us to other "spaces" - inner or outer.
Mother Earth
Father Sun
Brother Wind
Sister Flower (wild flowers what many now call "weeds" all medicinal).
Just once, I'd love to see a mega-billionaire (mega-egoist) personality focus on the non-sexy issue of overpopulation, which is the root cause of many of the problems that may force us out of existence. Instead of funding a new venture that celebrates the hyper-masculine archetype of adventurer, how about paying for family planning education and free modern contraceptives on every corner of the planet? I'm not saying I don't love the idea of further space exploration and getting our kids excited about science (my daughter is in preschool at one of the schools that sent their robotics team, and kudos to them!). Still, since we know we are biologically destined to outgrow our blue petri dish and destroy ourselves, maybe we can learn to adapt better than bacteria. Reducing overpopulation through education and access to standard healthcare, would reduce poverty, starvation, and improve women's opportunities and freedom overnight, AND we would reduce our carbon footprint and begin a transition to more sustainable resource consumption within years, and more as time went on. It's not a panacea (will still need to vote this abomination out of office), but it is cost-effective relative to building an impossibly complex space colony.
10
"..bucolic space colonies...future generations..." right. What Mr Bezos means - what all the moon-goers mean - is future generations of miners. Cheap and abundant rare metals is what the moon has to offer. That's the pay-off. That's the only reason big $$$ is being spent. Ask the Chinese, if you can reach them on the mountainous, mineral-abundant, dark side of the moon.
3
Cue Arthur C. Clarke's 3001 for clues.
1
I can't trust Amazon to deliver my packages. I'm supposed to trust them to deliver me to the moon?
3
@David Fairhurst I began buying books online when Amazon was birthed. Being house bound now (fire in NYC but living elsewhere) I depend on Amazon for many of my purchases.
I am grateful for Amazon - it's come a long, long way from just selling books. Competitive prices, tracking with various shipping providers, and super easy peasy returns. My CC account was credited when the return service picked it up from me! NOT when it returned to the warehouse as per so many others.
No complaints from me a very long time user. (and when I did, easily resolved)
Don't forget, software guys live by the credo "fake it 'tll you make it." In other words, confidently brag you can accomplish something that you can't, and hope that you eventually figure it out before everybody realizes you're lying.
Bezos doesn't have a rocket that can go into orbit right now. According to the article, he won't fly one at least intil 2021. So it's pretty funny to watch a video of a moon lander from a company that can barely get off the ground.
Watching the video, I see a rover being lowered to the surface, but I don't see people. Trump's vision was to land people on the moon again (or for the first time?), so the Bezos lander isn't going to do that. So what was the point of this media spectacle, again?
1
@Steve Acho All great ideas start with a vision.
Someone needs to be taxed more.
4
So much bitterness and hate. It is in fact possible to multitask. Instead of directing bitterness at someone who wants to expand humanity's presences into the heavens with their own fortune, perhaps we should instead go after the system, our government, which has allowed someone like him to legally acquire such unimaginable wealth while our education systems become simultaneously affordable and crumble. And our public infrastructure become third world. We should go after the system, our government, which is hellbent on convincing people out planet is just fine and climate change is hoax. We have every right to remove those people from power and it is within us to do so. On the other hand going after a private citizen for deciding to spend their money in a way differently than you would seems petty to me.
2
" This would be an incredible civilization" says Bezos. I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly, with the literal meaning of not being believable in the least. Unlimited resources elsewhere in the solar system? Really? Like what? How will we get them? Get oxygen and hydrogen from water on the moon? Theoretically possible, but at what scale? I could go on and on, but let me just leave it at this: guys like Bezos and Musk, with way too much money and nobody ever saying "no," like to be seen as visionaries and saviors. Let them have their hobbies, I suppose, but what a waste.
2
Wait a second here... I've been waiting for Amazon to release the season 4 of "The Expanse" for quite a while now, like many other fans of the show... But this is totally not what I was expecting!
1
“This (rotating space colonies) is Maui on its best day all year around,” Bezos said.
Making an artificial colony of Maui in the dead cold vacuum of space would be difficult. It sounds more like a Kubrickian nightmare.
Yes Jeff, we are running out of energy here on terra firma.
But what the first law of thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. What we are running out of is conveniently stored energy found in the chemical bonds of fossil fuels.
What we really need is a philosophy and physics for humankind to be in equilibrium with the Earth. This starts with birth control and evolves to a new system of economics that involves more than consumption.
Ecologists have long described energy cycles for the Earth that involves sunlight, plants, animals, air, water, and soil. The economy, our lifeblood as a civilization, has violated that.
Now futurists such as the U.K.'s James Burke describe a time when people will be making useful objects in cottages with nanotechnology and 3-D printers at the atomic level. Thus, in the not-so-distant future, people would live like William Morris and have a completely different relationship to property, real and personal.
Perhaps this is starry-eyed woolgathering. But thinking hard about a new civilization with a new energy relationship to the Earth might be more seemly than creating an ersatz Maui in a rotating piece of metal in outer space.
5
In the meantime Mr. Bezos encourages mass consumption that is a main reason for the mass extinction we're in.
3
Mr. Bezos should remember that Trump hates him for the truth that the Wash Post keeps telling about him. That will ensure that no tax dollars will ever go to Blue Origin. Wait a couple of years.
@Chazak Or lies. All media outlets are biased from the top down. My minor was in City Government NYC - news papers with varying opinions were abundant then greatly reduced over my 33 years in NYC.
Over this time line much was before the www and internet! Ruth Messenger then City Borough President taught our scholarship program in City Government.
A salient point. "The less media outlets there are the fewer opposing voices."
I think money spent on suicide clinics is money better spent.
The human experiment is coming to a close.
Prepare accordingly.
Think three times before having a child.
Acceptance is important.
4
Let's look further at this "incredible civilization".
Will the workers have unions?
How much room will be devoted to jails?
Will women be equal to men?
Will women have choice on reproduction?
Will there be a constitution?
Will that constitution be fixed, unchanging?
Elon Musk is a Libertarian. What political parties will there be in space?
Will there be health care for all?
How will this incredible civilization deal with homelessness?
What about the right to strike?
Who sets the working hours?
Is there voting?
Is it a democracy or a republic?
Will there be non-profits? Tax-exempt religions?
Is abortion legal?
I could ask these questions all day.... and must, because there's nothing about any of that in this article.
All I know about Bezos is that he's never shown a lick of concern about THIS planet.
There have been hundreds of thousands of "new!", "improved!", "incredible civilizations". 99.999999999999% no longer stand. I've never noticed that Bezos, or Trump or Pence or Musk or even Bill Gates, have ever been concerned with finding out why all of those previous "incredible civilizations" crashed and burned.
All I'm saying is, Don't sign on the dotted line until you find out what this civilization is going to be.
There's a 1,000 dead in Jonestown that thought they were headed to an "incredible civilization", too.
5
"Rising energy consumption is crucial to raising the standard of living for more people, but 'We will run out of energy,' Mr. Bezos said. 'This is just arithmetic. It’s going to happen.'”
Bezos' certainty is unwarranted and is based on his being underinformed: If/when fusion power is solved, each facility will create more energy than it takes to run it - and unlike today's fission reactors, Chernobyl-like events would not be possible. Moreover, so-called tabletop fusion reactors (they're actually bigger than that, but are relatively small) are in R&D as well, an in fact were funded by the Obama administration.
1
What about Amazon paying taxes that would actually fund NASA (and schools, medicine, roads and bridges, etc) instead?
36
"During his speech, Mr. Bezos gushed about the specifications of the lander, the efficiency of the engines and how much it could carry, much as an Apple or Samsung might boast about the new functions of their latest smartphones."
So, how many songs can I store on it and do I have to buy my songs from Amazon?
1
Amazon, the master of fake news is at it again. For some reason the news media eats it up every time. Perhaps the clicks it generates is more important than the substance of what Amazon has to say. First it was a big splash with the Amazon drone delivery service. Amazon released a splashy video and that was worth a few billion in free publicity. Five years later and there is no drone deliveries.
More recently Amazon made a big announcement that they were slashing prices at Whole Foods. The NYT was smart enough to check the facts and found that a basket of goods bought after the price drop saved five cents from the week before.
Now man on the moon. There seems no limit to what Amazon is willing to push to get free publicity, and everyone keeps eating it up. I tend to buy my goods from retailers that keep their feet firmly planted on the ground. But that's just me.
3
This sounds like the last desperate con of capitalism. Having accumulated an unconscionable share of the world's resources, Bezos, Musk, et al now see profit in deporting surplus people to offshore space colonies. The brochures will no doubt make it sound lovely.
1
Like Will Robinson, I'm all for moving to outer space but before we go - can we make sure the homeless and mentally ill back on earth are taken care of ?
6
Assuming this all will happen, aside from the same DNA, they will soon evolve and have nothing in common socially or culturally with those on Earth. Don't expect them to have allegiances to Earth's population or amongst themselves on the various colonies. FWIW (For what it's all worth?!)
2
This guy has too much money. Way too much.
4
@Ro-Go He earned it.
You know, Jeff, I'd have more respect for you if your goal was to solve the matter of the homeless, here on Earth.
No, I don't see how you could create an "amazing" society up in space seeing as you are just a silly boy down here on Earth, delighting in your many toys and without a drop of concern for hunger, overpopulation and tent cities.
Just one question to prove my point: Exactly what is your position on birth control, abortion and forced breeding?
I'd want to know that before I locked myself into one of your spheres.
4
This earth is the only livable planet we have. Isn't it better to spend resources to make this a more livable place by cleaning the air, water and stop polluting the planet by coal and fossil fuel consumption? Our planet is already threatened by climate catastrophes.
Mr. Bezos can spend some of his vast wealth towards these goals and try to influence the policy decisions at Government level so that we can have plans to support a sustainable home we already have rather than pursuing a fantasy project?
7
@The Observer Not to mention we are in a mass 6th extinction of many flora and fauna species - air, earth and water and unknown areas yet to be discovered.
We know we aren't taxing wealthy corporations enough when Bezos can afford to burn $1 billion a year on a pet project that won't be self-sustaining in any of our lifetimes.
Beside, as philosophical point, space colonization should be a public enterprise. This mission, if we really want to pursue it, properly belongs in the public trust. That means NASA and probably our international community as well. Not the profiteering passions of a few eccentric billionaires.
As far as I'm concerned, space is public domain for all humanity. Let's keep it that way.
3
All scientific evidence has shown that prolonged time in space harms people. Even short durations in space have negative effects on bone density. No human has given birth while in space which would bring its own set of complications. I don't see humanity solving these problems before the earth becomes overwhelming hostile to life.
3
Mr. Bezos could donate $1 billion annually to both Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam America indefinitely and never miss it. This would do a great deal more good for humanity but evidently not for his ego. This is beyond unfortunate.
13
Breathtaking narcissism, egoism = foolishness on an epic scale. All the evidence shows that millions of years of evolution has adapted the human body for gravity.
Almost all the comments speak to using his billions to invest in solar, trains and projects to save the planet. Remember Amazon has paid zero corporate taxes recently. Where’s the outrage? Sheer idiocy masquerading as visionary thinking. The comments prove that no one buys it!
9
Forgive the pun but this is lunacy.
9
This is just one huge propaganda scam so Bezos can escape his responsibilities on earth -- like paying taxes and building sustainable communities. He cannot really be so deluded or that stupid. Because anybody doing the math almost immediately realizes that the cost of transporting anything like he suggests into space, and then constructing a livable society in an alien environment, dooms it as a realistic idea. It's never going to happen.
8
Jeff Bezos should spend his time figuring out how to return, reuse and recycle all the cardboard waste filling our landfills. Work on protecting our planet, Mr. Bezos, instead of finding a way to circle it. Oh, wait! We can circumnavigate in a refrigerator carton!
9
In his ramblings on lunar and inter-planetary space colonies, Jeff Bezos (né Jorgensen) is not only in personal and marital “midlife crisis”—
His futurist fantasies, like fellow multi-billionaire Elon Musk, also appear to be in crisis.
[Is it possible he gets any attention because he’s so rich?]
4
Bezos (né Jorgensen) is not only in personal and marital “midlife crisis”—
His futurist fantasies, like fellow multi-billionaire Elon Musk, also appear to be in crisis.
[Is it possible he gets any attention because he’s so rich?]
3
And I used to think that this guy was smart.
6
"..... and then amazing things will happen...."
"Amazing things" is one of Trump's favorite bylines.
Just sayin'.
6
Bezos and other gazillionairs need to help save Earth rather than go camping on the moon.
8
Trump that bad?
With his head shaved and those big dreamy eyes, J. B. looks like a movie alien. Let's hope he leads the exploration of outer space and brings back an alien lifeform to astound us. Moon rocks are boring.
2
Let's clean up the trash on Earth, including the nuclear waste, and dump it all on the moon.
The overwhelming evidence suggests that billionaires are morons. The earth will be devoid of humans long before their are viable space colonies.
4
If we all could take the drugs Bezos is apparently taking no one would ever need to leave earth. Or their homes, for that matter.
A trillion people? That’s more than 142 times the present population of earth. If nothing else, it results in a whole lot of poop!
Instead, how about a single giant orbiting ring space station around earth, halfway to the moon? Or maybe a Dyson Sphere?
Or just something simple like a Death Star?
And this is all going to come about by selling stuff at a thin margin online. What can possibly go wrong?
2
Unfortunately there’s no other alternative other than going back to foraging, which is going to be tough with 8 billion people and a badly degraded environment.
Bezos is right, we’re evolutionarily programmed to self destruct unless we can grow. We’ve exploited the resources on earth way beyond the maximum and systems-failure has been setting in since at least the 50s.
Meanwhile, there’s a young and empty universe, ours for the taking. It might work; in any event we have to try and keep trying. He’s also correct IMO that constructing Dyson rings is much easier than trying to build habitations on a planet with less (or more) gravity; that would lead to a species split. Gotta keep the band together at least for now.
10
@Skinny J He's not talking about anything as adventurous as Dyson rings (BTW Dyson proposed a sphere, not a ring). He simply wants to build habitats in earth orbit.
4
@Skinny J. Not 'Dyson rings' but O'Neill cylinders, for populations of tens/hundreds of thousands, or the smaller classic 'bicycle' torus design in some cases. See Gerard K. O'Neill, THE HIGH FRONTIER.
3
I'd feel a lot more positive about this if it were a national or international goal, under the aegis of a democratically controlled organization such as NASA or the UN.
Bezos' fortune is roughly $154.9 billion. Only 12 countries in the world have GDPs larger than that.
I have my doubts this is the best solution to our problems.
33
@J Jencks -- I agree. It would be better to stop mistreating earth so we all can have a better life here.
8
Might sound crazy but humanity’s future should be underground. Once we’ve ruined the planet we can make our subterranean retreat and work on restoring the planet from there. We belong on Earth.
3
@Tom Baroli I grew up in Kokomo Indiana (1950's) and we young children used to visit an elder who lived underground (part of the space was open to the world above but just above ground level - like a sky light area). It was an amazing, comfortable place. Like a “womb”.
Underground living has it's pluses. Preserve wild spaces above, insulation - temperature control (ground water issues yet we have the technology to resolve these issues and any others) and with solar, geothermo energy (big power companies are resisting this "free energy") it is do-able.
Yet it will not be done as powerful energy suppliers resist as they have huge profits for things as they are.
Humans are at their best when issues are at their worst - unfortunately.
I like what Bill Maher said (paraphrasing): "Hey Jeff, take one for the team!" With his riches, he could revitalize a couple of fly-over states ("Amazippy"), and set a precedent for modern capitalism by paying his employees a decent wage and providing them with decent benefits. This moon stuff is testimony to over-inflated ego, misguided priorities and wayyy too much disposable income.
1
I’ve got a better idea: why don’t we to try harder to care for the planet we live on?
2
And leaving the ruined, polluted earth to those who cannot escape..
2
You know what? I trust Bezos more than I trust in the fully corrupt and pearl-clutching bureaucracy of government.
Somehow I don't think all of Earth's people are going to win the lottery for transport to those gigantic rotating bucolic utopian space colonies Mr. Bezos seems to be near orgasmic about. Should his vision of the future actually come to pass, billions will be left to survive...or not...here on the grim, resource-depleted Earth he envisions. The idea that people could go back to Earth for a visit any time they want is rather amusing. Why would any of the lucky people living on those year-round rotating Mauis want to visit energy depleted, over crowded, climate hostile Earth?
bezos is someone with the power to change the world. When will he? Until then I view him as just another example of evil incarnate. How much money does one human being need?
3
Bezos is delusional. At a time when whole ecosystems are collapsing before our eyes, and we cannot afford to continue even the most basic and essential use of fossil fuels without risking self-annihilation, he suggests that we should start lifting in to space on rockets, thus making our dire situation much worse.
Perhaps he thinks he'll be escaping with his closest friends? If so, I'd suggest he study the "Biosphere 2" experiments. The idea that anyone could exist long term in space -- especially without a viable planet to support them -- is beyond stupid. Only someone as far removed from the natural world as he is would even *want* to live in such an environment.
1
Great. Another colossal waste of our Earth's resources to feed a billionaire's ego. All of these "rocket" companies should be outlawed due to their environmental impacts.
3
"And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."
1
Perhaps it would be better if Jeff Bezos spent his billions on resolving the plastic problem on Earth: his Amazon organization
is one of the major users of plastic packaging that could eventually make Earth largely uninhabitable.
2
I am as excited about the possibilities of space travel as anyone, but can we please prove that we can maintain a habitable Earth first? Otherwise it's sort of like buying a brand new luxury car to go on a fantastic vacation, while out the rear window you can see the house burning down...
11
@Joe G. - If the house burns down, maybe it would be a good idea to have another place to live in.
1
@Joe G. Why can't we do both? A primary reason to move a lot of power production (really large scale solar power), mining (asteroids) and industry off the planet is so that earth can be treated more gently.
5
Clearly, humanity must eventually leave its still beautiful Earth in order to survive in this vast universe. However, humanity has at least from one to two billion years to fulfill that mission before the Sun makes the planet uninhabitable.
In the meantime, humanity is quickly making Earth uninhabitable by its polluting and wasteful habits, habits that it can change far more easily than building colonies in space that will not be needed for a billion years. Given just the current pace of global species extinction alone, we could well face an age of plagues that kills us all, making any venture into space both moot and self-eliminating.
1
@Daniel Rose
There won't be a species like us in 1-2 billion years. Primates evolved over 65 million years. Homo habilis emerged about 3 million years ago, and H. sapiens evolved less than a million years ago. In a billion years, things will be different.
I agree that we need to fix what we're destroying first.
1
If you're not in favor of space colonization, then I hope you're in favor of population control. We will either have to look to space to house our expanding population, or take steps to reduce the population of the Earth. Overpopulation is the Number One environmental problem this planet faces. More humans simply equates to more pollution.
You can't fit 20 people in a Toyota Corolla. You would need either more cars, or fewer people.
3
Bezos is on the right track. The best way to be able to preserve our home planet is to make other places for humanity to live. O'Neil Cylinders are one of the best "destinations" to aim for. We could build the best environment for humans without worrying about hurting other species. We could eventually have custom built ecosystems for every type of society or animal. Everyone who cares about the Earth should be excited about space travel.
2
@Jeff
I'm excited about Earth and its multifarious manifestations of life. Space travel is not the panacea that science fiction geeks seem to think it is.
1
Why not invest in colonies on earth? Better yet, why not invest in urban communities to lower carbon loads and improve city and inter-city transit using clean transportation fuels? An alternative would be to invest in medical and health sciences to improve the outcomes and stimulate preventative medical intervention to improve individuals' lives burdened by serious diseases - cancer, cardio-vascular and diabetes. More speculative research may consider CRISPR genetic engineering that isolates rouge genes and uncovers methods to ‘fix’ those genes without negative side effects. I think that healthcare R&D would return a higher value for investment than space colony research. Does anyone doubt that there is an opportunity cost associated with spending great wealth on pseudo 'popular science' experiments that do not appear to have goals aligned with human challenges like climate change?
In a world where "almost half the population — 3.4 billion people — still struggles to meet basic needs" (World Bank, 2018), investment in food sciences may be a practical research goal to improve crops and food storage to fend major droughts and other environmental calamities.
The "Jetsons" approach to space R&D appears to be a Sport of Kings rather than practical science research. History will expose avarice devised to draw public funding for military and speculative commercial purposes. In the end, investment by the world’s wealthy will be measured against Luke 12:48.
2
You call that contraption "sleek"? Looks like a rip-off of the Lunar Module descent stage, no? In any case, it is fascinating and incredibly odd that Mr. Bezos harkens back to the O'Neill space-colony idea. I nominate Mr. Bezos to live long-term on the first one. A utopia, right?
Using a moon base for deep space exploration and observation makes sense but this everyone floating around in space colonies is science fiction.
@D (and others)
Sci-fi is not synonymous with 'unthinkable.' Matter o' fact, it describes various pathways into the future and inspires many of us to pick wisely. Physicist Gerald O'Neill (way back in '76) described space habitats with gravity (faux but effective) and radiation shields that would make these cities in space quite livable. Our ambition to mine asteroids leads to endless building materials in space without having to haul it up from Earth. Our future here on our one planet is under attack from our apparently inability to restrain our reproductive urges. Planning alternatives seems to me to be quite reasonable.
4
The true long-thinkers among us have always stirred up scorn and dismissal. It's hard to dismiss our new brand of oligarchs - putting aside whether we should have oligarchs. Thank heavens Bezos, Musk, Gates, Buffett and others are (apparently) using their fortunes to address problems and opportunities for us hoi polloi. It could be a lot worse, and will if we can't overcome our ridiculous polarization and elect long-thinkers as government leaders.
4
How about an even dispersal of the majority of his Amazon stock to all past and present employees.
They always say it is easier to unite people around hate than love - running a campaign aimed at Bezos and Zuckerberg framed in the context of rampant inequality would unite nearly every voting block. It's the left's version of railing against immigrants, but also something the right would get behind.
1
Interesting choice of names for Mr. Bezo's lander: Blue Moon. As a long time Seattle resident I am sure he is aware that the Blue Moon was an infamous, raunchy tavern in the city's University District.
At any rate, I don't get this move to explore space when we have monumental problems here on earth that need attention, in particular, climate change. Should we really be setting our sights on other planets when we have trashed this one so badly?
Speaking of “simple arithmetic,” living in space will be exorbitantly expensive. Think your house is expensive? It doesn’t compare to the costs of building a life sustaining space in hard vacuum. Perhaps the 0.1% can live there. With space at a premium, however, it won’t be pleasant stuck in a small tin can. And where are all these energy resources in space that are going to alleviate the pinch for Earth’s people (who can’t afford to live there)? Solar? We already have that on Earth. Bezos’ vision doesn’t make any sense.
Nonsense.
Pure advertising, with no engineering reality behind it. Just like O'Neill's fantasies of 40 years ago, which went nowhere for a good reason. Bezos has more money, but no more sense. Space "colonies" will always be dependent on supplies from Earth because there is nothing out there but rock and sunlight.
Anyone who took undergraduate chemistry or thermodynamics would realize that to get hydrogen and oxygen from water requires more energy than you get by recombining them as fuel.
If it were so easy, first establish a self-sustaining colony on Antarctica, where air and water are there for the taking (and you might even eat penguins).
1
Hate to sound like a wet blanket, but Mr. Bezos could do lot to make life better here on Earth, our only planet. Like making Amazon an attractive company to have in a community. And better pay and working conditions for workers a la Silicon Valley workers. A sustainable company, in other words.
I am sorry. I cannot read any more of these disgusting comments. If these fine folks had their way we would still be fixing up the caves we lived in. Columbus would have never found financing.
Look, there are nearly a TRILLION people on earth. If we could get them working and producing, we could solve our pressing planetbound problems and not put all our eggs in one small basket.
History has shown over and over, that the human race prospers when it has a frontier. when it advances, not when it sits around and studies old texts, plants gardens, and builds walls to keep out the barbarians.
We have such a frontier, and today we have the knowledge to reach it and expand it. What we need is the will.
Ad Astra per Aspera!!
3
Sorry, I don't always detect sarcasm accurately. Please confirm that you're joking, when my only clue was your claim of nearly a trillion people living on earth. I hate to appear dense, but somehow I can't rest without knowing you were being sarcastic.
@John - I was not.
Sorry I meant 10 billion, Slipped a couple of 0's. In this context, however, there is not much difference. If you prefer, just say "lots of people."
"that this would help meet President Trump’s goal, stated by Vice President Pence, to send astronauts back to the moon by 2024. "
What goal? I read that a number of valuable engineers left NASA in January because, under Trump's shutdown, they weren't getting paid. Whatever Pence was envisioning got trampled by Trump's determination to bully Congress.
Frankly, if Bezos and the tech elite want to leave the planet I am all for it.
2
More robust studies indicate human bodies cannot handle being in space for long periods of time; giving astronauts cancer and shortening their lives. Put that money into saving our home. Going to space is not an equal opportunity for all, but fixing our planet is.
1
What have we created, incredibly wealth people spending their money to go to the moon? My god, Bezos, Musk, please spend your money to send people to the grocery store not send them to the moon. With 50% of our fellow Americans without $400 in savings, could you not think of better ways to spend your wealth. I can!
Ridiculous. If Bezos wants to do some good, why not work to end starvation and infant and maternal deaths around the world? Bring water to villages in Africa, so food can be grown. Build hospitals and schools, improve roads. There are so many things that need to be done to improve the lives of millions of humans living on earth right now. For Bezos to be preoccupied with this space-living-in-the-future stuff shows that he's short-sighted and disconnected from real life, and proves that wealth does not equal intelligence.
Since we've done so well managing this Goldilocks planet we've been given, we can obviously manage the leap to deep space with a lack of gravity (the most under-rated resource for sustained healthy human life), air, heap abundant water, massive fertile soil and in-place flora and fauna. There's plenty of sunlight goin' our way out there, zippy doo dah, but everything else is in raw form, and a thousand years of Bezos-like activity is barely going to make an anthills worth of livability at a sustainable price.
Even if someone could buy these billions of people tickets to proposed space colonies and pay their rent once they get there the population on Earth isn’t likely to stabilize at a new lower number. In a couple generations we’d probably be back where we started.
1
I'm in my 70's and have, in my lifetime, walked on a warm pristine sandy beach, drank cool water from a mountain stream, listened at night to the calls of night birds, caught fireflies in a jar, and done a hundred similar things. How would travel to, and living on, another planet compare to the beauty we find (found?) here on earth?
9
Amen
To have him say that it is inevitable that we will use up resources on earth is pretty annoying. He is trying to capitalize on the eventual lack of resources that companies like his will continue to drive so we can keep consuming. I hope Mr Bezos will move to the moon soon.
6
“We will run out if energy.”
Spoken like a true non-expert. There is enough energy to be generated purely from solar power to provide our energy needs, if we can develop breakthroughs in solar panel efficiencies. That’s not to mention wind, hydro, or even some of the fusion potential that could come to fruition in the next couple of decades.
And yet, this retailer wants us to live in space colonies. Perhaps his money could be spent more wisely.
6
There’s a lot of galaxy out there to pollute, let’s get busy. Kidding! I’d settle for ordinary people taking responsibility for the pollution they create and the litter, a pet peeve of mine. Vermont has it over most other states in that regard but the selfishness of the species is brought into clear focus every time I come across litter, usually plastic, in an otherwise pristine environment. Let’s put or house in order first, space will always be there.
7
No private person should have the resources to spend like this, never mind manipulate the public perception of our long term goals and dreams. How about Jeff Bezos try a better investment, start paying his employees enough money to be financially secure, raise college educated kids without debt, have free time to pursue the arts and retire without worrying about day to day costs of living?
15
I'm seeing a lot of short-sightedness in these comments. I've said this once in a reply but I'll say it again: this planet will not be here forever. Full stop. Period. Even if we don't ruin it (a dubious proposition), it will eventually be rendered uninhabitable by one of the many cosmic events that are quite capable of erasing our planet off the galactic map. Yes, we need sustainability. But the need for sustainability does not change the fact that we need to be making our way to achieving interstellar space travel. This is an infinitesimally small step in the right direction if we want our species (or something resembling it) to be around in a billion years.
1
@Nick We might get hit by a giant meteor, which could cause millions of deaths (due to starvation from crop failures, not the impact itself) and a world-wide depression. But that would be a catastrophe on the order of the 1930s and 40s, and humanity would rebuild readily. But as to truly cosmic events that could "end life on the earth as we know it", you've got a few hundred million years, at least, before that happens. We'll have gone through 100 man-made eco-disasters by that time, if we manage to live THOSE. So, while spend a couple bucks a year on space exploration with the intent to save humanity may be worth a little, better to spend the bulk of this on averting man-made disaster. I'm amused by your reference to "short-sightedness". "Short-sightedness" is meaningful when talking about next week, month, year, or event century; much beyond that, there are too many variables to even bother. Imagining one can plan for a million years in the future is fantastical.
1
@Nick Yes, since humans have existed for seconds, relative to all life on Earth, but have managed to wipe out millions of species and destroy more than half of the vegetation on the planet - we certainly want to ensure that our species survives at all costs, I imagine so that we can go elsewhere and destroy things......
I don't understand picking on Bezos for having a dream that goes beyond earth. He might be able to help the plight of our planet, but chances are that if he employed his money to do that all that would come of it is more dependence of humans on him and those like him with no lasting change.
Europeans, if they had had a voice, might have said the same thing about explorers leaving the mainland and going across the oceans - spend the money on the poor here and fix the roads.
As a species we need to be more than just be content to stay here. I applaud the human spirit shown by Bezos to explore and think outside our perception of misery and catastrophe here on earth. We are all probably doomed by our own greed and aggressive DNA here. Let's pursue a dream. Bezos billions are not going to fix the earth - that is up to the collective human race. He made his money honestly and should be able to go after his dream without the attacks.
5
Bezos sees Musk's Mars dream and raises him. A trillion people in space colonies? Please start calling these billionaires' fantasies what they really are: PR campaigns for the continued destruction of the earth's environment, by the industries that made a selfish few unimaginably rich.
Let me translate Bezos' fatuous fantasy into plain English: "There's no reason to worry about pollution or global warming, because we'll all just go somewhere else. In the meantime, don't do anything to slow or reverse those problems, because it will reduce my insane accumulation of wealth."
Whatever you do, don't fall for these "We'll all go to space" claims. There's only one spacecraft big enough for all of us, and it's the one we're on: our planet.
26
I reads Andy Weir's novel Artemis about a lunar city. It is a fun read and full of very possible architecture and life support details.
A lunar colony, with improved transport back and forth, will be a springboard for further exploration and "mining" of resources throughout the solar system (and beyond).
Once gravity of earth is avoided, space stations as hubs and further jumping off points makes it possible to leap frog around the galaxy without the current "one way trip" fears.
As wonderful living on Earth is and aside from the need of humans to protect and "fix" self inflicted damage to it, exploration and colonization of space should not be an impediment to that. there may even be possibilities "out there" to syphon back and repair some problems.
2
Several years ago the U.N. estimated that more than 60 million people have been displaced from their homes by war, famine and climate-change-related environmental disasters. That number can only have increased since. Surely Mr. Bezos - the world’s richest man - can find more socially responsible ways to spend some of his hundreds of billions of accumulated wealth than by figuring out how to send people off into space at some time in the distant future. There is an immediate crisis here on earth that could use his help, his vision, his commitment, and his investment.
15
I have been pushing these ideas for decades. It is gratifying to see someone who can do something about it on my side. I will just add one thought:
Just imagine where we would be today if the defense and space budgets had been reversed for the last 50 years.
Ad Astra per Aspera!!
6
Hey Mr Bezos, how about paying fair share of federal taxes in order to run our country.
It is now even more serious since Trump Administration cut corporate taxes to 21% from 35%.
17
@Goahead - Since th federal government can create as much money as it needs out of thin air, we don't need Jeff's money for a project that would increase our production thus preventing excess inflation and would get this country moving forwards again.
2
We have more tigers in cages than wild. Our coral is bleaching and we face wildfires, killer hurricanes, super storms. Nothing Bezos could build equals the beauty of nature we are destroying. Mr. Amazon ought to save the Amazon. With his billions he could be buying up and preserving precious habitats.
82
@Ego Persona - Ya wanna put all your eggs in one basket?
3
@Len Charlap We only have one basket.
3
@Ego Persona
So true and so much development is named after what it destroyed. Still his wealth has so much potential, consider the creation of the Patagonia National Park.
A lot of negativity here.
I was born after the first moon landing and grew up with Star Wars and Star Trek. I've wanted space exploration my whole life. Now, 50 years after the first landing, we're taking about it again, and everybody dumps on it.
I love the earth, but exploring space is cool too. I'm not a big Bezos fan, but what happened to people's imagination and sense of wonder?
26
@BG I am in wonder every time I turn over a rock in my garden and see the soil life beneath. I am in wonder when I observe the honey bees and native bees and hummingbirds and robins visiting that same garden. I am in wonder when I look above and see Canada geese flying in perfect formation above. I am in wonder when I step outside at night and see the shadows of bats swooping through my neighborhood. I don't think it is from a lack of wonder that people want to conserve the wonderous Earth and fellow species who share that Earth.
24
The negativity comes from living on a planet currently being environmentally ravaged. Do you seriously think we have enough time to create these bucolic space colonies before it's too late? Good lord, we couldn't even get the Biosphere project to work, and that was right here on planet earth.
Nobody is a bigger space exploration fan than this engineer/scientist, but I'm utterly disgusted with Bezos and his big plan. His money could do far more to make this beautiful planet we already have better-- and I'm certain that focusing on that mission would teach us a lot about how to build those utopian space colonies in the future.
The only upside I see to this is that a whole lot of scientists and engineers will be gainfully employed while they indulge in their little fantasy musings. If I wasn't retired, I might join them. It would be a great way to get my mind off the tragedy happening on our home planet.
15
@BG
Space exploration is great. The notion that it is feasible to provide a stable and meaningful life for millions of people in space is ludicrous. There are so many insurmountable issues that it isn't even worth explaining why this is ridiculous.
4
All this space colony stuff is really nuts. Space and planets are really really hostile environments for people. I think the space colony stuff is a distraction from what we need to do here on earth.
23
The right message but the wrong messenger?
A key message of Gerard K. O'Neill's Princeton study was that the development of space infrastructure, in particular solar power platforms that could provide energy to Earth's billions, might ease pressures politically and environmentally. In fact the book O'Neill wrote in 1976 suggested that by incorporating technologies like this with resources that were available in space the Earth might ultimately be returned to a rather "park-like, pristine state."
That message got a bit diluted in yesterday's presentation...they were pushing the Amazon lander idea, after all. But O'Neill's writings indicate he believed pursuit of activity in space, certainly on a large and grand scale, might improve things here on the ground. Surely pie-in-the-sky optimism from an earlier era.
Some entity or group may someday achieve this. And Utopian visions aside there may be more positives than negatives. But there are many challenges we must face hand-in-hand. Our billionaire caste must recognize that the oligarchy they promote is ultimately self-defeating and bad for business. A rising tide lifts all boats and allows everyone to look upward and dream big futures.
Yes, go for the Moon (or planets). But come up with better policies than enforced wage stagnation, rigged-cost healthcare, the normalization of fear, and so many other travesties that are little more than crypto-conservative, corporate-approved violence against our global family.
Ad Astra!
8
As a space buff - God speed, Mr. Bezos.
What a wonderful news - to have a competition with ever competitive Elon Musk.
This competition might make Elon do even bolder things.
When you travel the globe as I have - been to some 114 countries and counting - there is not a single person who does not know name of Neil Armstrong - along with Youri Gagarin - as two humans who defied all odds and fired up our imagination.
I dare say - the famous American Dream that many foreigners yearn to live - has its genesis on our moon landing - where we proved that even earth is no barrier to what America can do.
We all should rejoice that we have Americans who dream big.
They may not be all Verner von Braun - but they have the wherewithal to employ many of his likes.
So, to me - this is something to look forward to in my remaining years in this blessed country as I recently crossed 70.
8
@Neil I’m pretty sure that there are billions of people who don’t know who Neil Armstrong is, let alone Yuri Gagarin.
Bezos has too much money. He is a walking example of why we need a wealth tax. Instead of moving millions of people to an inhabitable planet, why don’t we preserve this one for future generation. Just look at the beautiful images of earth from outer space. It is a miracle that this planet exists. Why on earth would we want to leave it.
33
While Bezos works on Plan B the fossil fuel companies go on their merry way speeding the devastation of our atmosphere. And with clean energy a viable alternative!
We'd better stop trashing the Green New Deal and put our country in order. And rejoin the Paris Accord, this time with teeth.
Bezos should stop trying to escape the planet and put that money into solar, wind, geothermal, and new battery technology.
12
@betty durso - What's wrong with having a plan B?
Well, at least someone is focused on infrastructure spending.
9
Enough of absurdly rich people and their dreams of sending most of their fellow earthlings into space.
How about instead of spending hundreds of trillions of dollars to do that, we instead spend that money on restoring Earth's environment and ecosystems, making our industries and agriculture truly sustainable and green, eliminating the use of fossil fuels, achieving economic and social justice throughout the world, attaining zero population growth, etc.
I'd rather live in that future on Earth rather than in a tin can owned by Bezos somewhere in space.
30
What about fixing what’s wrong with planet Earth first, Mr. Bezos?
16
@Rachel Evans - Why not do both?
Bezos just renewed the tv series “The Expanse” on amazon prime. He should watch it again. No utopias there.
3
Space, seriously? With climate change destroying communities, diseases blossoming around the world, immunity to antibiotics on the rise, cancer, poverty, homelessness, joblessness, and Bezos can't think of anything better to do than go to space with his billions?
16
Beg to differ with Bezos. The way things are going on this planet there will be no humans left to colonize the moon.
4
@susan - For pete's sake, read the article before commenting. He is not proposing to colonize the moon.
Len - I read the article. Like Steve Martin once said "Well excuuuuuuuuuuse me!"
@susan - You're excused. For penance you might learn about the habitats proposed by Gerald O'Neil to see how feasible they are now (and have been for a long time).
How about we just use all the money that Jeff Bezos has (and it’s a lot) and clean up the environment? Then we won’t need to live in bucolic space colonies. Unbelievable. Just because someone is filthy rich everyone thinks they’re smart.
25
Yada, yada, yada! Another gated community. And, no, we will not run out of energy until the sun burns out in a few billion years.
13
@Ronnie - And the best way to get it is Space based solar energy:
https://singularityhub.com/2018/12/31/why-the-future-of-solar-power-is-from-space/
https://www.businessinsider.com/space-based-solar-panels-beam-unlimited-energy-to-earth-2015-9
Etc.
Instead of trying to colonize space, maybe these crazily narcissistic tech gurus could try to solve some problems here on earth.
19
@Jill S - Yeah, I always thought it was a mistake for Queen Isabella to waste all her gold on that Italien nut job in 1492.
"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness." - John Muir
I don't want or need to go to space. I love our Earth.
15
I was thinking that once they become rich and famous they all think that they are folks from another planet. It happened to Tom Cruise and John Travolta. David Bowie too. Remember the film of Bowie: « The Man Who Fell to Earth » ? But Bowie was fine, except for that.
Now Jeff Bezos suspects the same.
7
Oh, if only Bezos would take the first trip and stay there, then maybe we could have Whole Foods back to the way it was, pre-Alexa...
10
Are we humans going to take our slash and burn practices to other planets and moons now?
17
@Zara1234 -- But of course!
1
Neo-psychedelic rock band The Soundtrack of Our Lives where right on the money back in 1999:
”they're gonna build a brand new planet
they're gonna leave for another world
they're gonna build a brand new planet
and leave us all here on our own
just like they did before”
(Firmanent Vacation)
2
The idea that these corporate space-bozos are going to lead space exploration instead of NASA makes me sick. What is the exact opposite of inspired?
10
@J c - Well I agree NASA should have been doing. Heck, it should have done it decades ago. We had the tech, but not the will.
But ya take whatcha can get.
Help humankind survive ! Colonizing space is crazy !
8
The ultimate gated community.
25
How much are you going to pay your workers in the space colony, Bezos?
16
How about free modern contraception for all to save this planet from humans before we proceed to trash other planets ?
Bezos needs a play toy....and the little boy has found one.
72
@Socrates
Free modern contraception? Not going to happen. The global corporate powers-that-be want more people on our already over-populated resource-limited planet. To them, more people means more consumers for their stuff, and cheaper labor for their companies.
9
Fix this planet with all your money before you ruin some other place.
25
Will there be free delivery to the moon?
Yes, with Amazon Universe.
10
Seems like sheer lunacy to me. Our planet is spectacular! Why can’t all of this money be spent to preserve life here in Earth?
19
It’s his money to spend.
4
This is an excellent example of why the rich (and companies like Amazon) should be paying more taxes. Too much discretionary money! Seriously, if building a space colony is what tickles your fancy or, as the song goes---"Now I'm no longer alone, Without a dream in my heart, Without a love of my own" then you need to really look around at what you are not seeing.
12
Living in space is higher on the bucket list than sustained fusion power?
1
The waste of resources envisioned is breathtaking, especially coming the same week we learned that a million terrestrial species are on the brink of extinction thanks to human folly. It would be nice if Bezos would supplement his adolescent fantasies with pursuits that might help preserve life on earth. Perhaps a solution to global warming.
26
What is the rush to leave Earth for places that are hostile to human life? Who wants to live inside a can for the rest of his life? Why not build affordable housing on Earth? Why not pay Amazon workers more? Why not put an end to tax breaks from local governments to set up shop?
14
I love big ideas.
They are exciting and force us to look beyond the everyday events that are the humdrum of daily life here on Earth.
Colonizing the MOON?
But can’t we set priorities?
Developing and new, non-polluting energy source;
Clean water
Clean air
Food
Healthcare
At best the moon’s colonialism is a distraction from what we should be doing.
For heavens sake can we get excited about saving and living on the most beautiful, interesting, life sustaining rock in our corner of space?
The moon is a big idea for another age.
The big idea for now is to stay home and practice being good citizens and cleaning up our room and growing up a little more; then we can go outside and play.
Know what we know about our species, going to the moon is ridiculous for the foreseeable future.
Charley
5
Given the global warming crisis, it begs the question: How much carbon is emitted into our atmosphere each time a wealthy space tourist wants to experience a few minutes of weightlessness? Space exploration has its place, but it’d be great if the billionaires’ resources and federal subsidies were more thoroughly directed to our most pressing issue - avoiding climate catastrophe.
21
@Mateo Agree. Maybe excess individual wealth is actually community wealth and the community should decide how to spend it. We could call it majority rule, or democracy.
7
How about a living wage and improved working conditions for his employees? That would be out of this world.
90
Though it may feel good to impugn the guy, - he has the audacity to be, gasp, successful! - let's be fair for a moment: Amazon is known for hiring minorities, its fair wages and generous benefits. So, c'mon eh?
1
Once i hit my fifties i began to collect antique metal toy cars. It was a little phase that sort of came and went. Same thing with this guy and the space thing. Give it a year, maybe two.
10
I would think that building a new world would be easier in Alaska. Some distant area ... inaccessible by roads.
To start with, the people there, in Alaska, would be able to go outside and breathe the fresh air. On a good weather day in the summer. At least for now, maybe not in a 100 years.
South Pole would be the second choice.
If life would not be good in those areas, why would one think it would be any better in space ?
16
I expect some nay-sayers here, with the usual “spend the money on Earth” dirge.
We do need to address the climate crisis and more here. Yet if there is any chance to spread our race into the heavens, to create jobs and new industries in the age of automation, we should try. It is a noble and inspiring thing to do.
While Bezos, Musk, and others who pursue these dreams have tax breaks and NASA pads to launch their rockets, their fortunes make this possible. They are the Carnegies and Rockefellers of our time.
10
And that’s a good thing? I would think we’d want a society that had evolved last Carnegie’s and Rockefellers.
11
@JJ consider what these people did, ultimately, with their wealth: arts, libraries, schools.
Consider what Bill and Melinda Gates are doing. In our plutocracy, at least for now, you'd best hope for more of them and fewer Trumps.
6
@Peak Oiler I see what you did there, using "heavens," and its positive connotations, instead of "space." It makes it sounds like an ideal place to live, but the harsh physical realities of space are quite different than a supposed heaven.
8
Paid for by US taxpayers.
22
When the whole earth becomes Rome I guess you have to fiddle on the moon.
24
How about a less than miserable way to get from Northern NJ to Manhattan. Or high speed rail that really work on the east coast corridor. Or maybe be we stop turning our atmosphere into a sewer.
This is a joke.
55
Bucolic utopias in space? A glittery horror story benefiting only the fewest. Humanity's pyre, stoked by one man's narcissism.
Better to follow Bill McKibben to the end of the Earth than Jeff Bezos into space.
27
We've mucked up Earth so badly that space colonization is the best option to save us?
24
We trashed the Earth and now the plan is to put humans on a little raft and blast them off into space?
What's the point?
33
@CC: Survival long-term!
Such a shame that Bezos doesn’t put his tremendous resources and intellect towards making his businesses “Planet Earth Friendly”. Amazon is positioned uniquely in terms of scale to bring efficiencies that could be positive for our Climate & our future on this little blue rock.
Off-planet heavy industry & mining - ok, but there is no Planet B & Amazon logistics are killing Planet A.
52
If somebody as undisciplined and silly as Elon Musk can get into space, why not Mr Bezos with his great resources and mostly more disciplined governance?
1
What’s with this renewed interest in the moon? Our planet is dying before our eyes and Trump and Bezos are turning attention and resources towards the moon. It’s crazy. Maybe even immoral.
57
@Galfrido
Nobody talked about moon until China said it planned to reach moon sometime in the next decade.
What a waste - the fact that our economy allows individuals to accumulate vast quantities of wealth through monopolies and then allows these people to redirect those vast resources for folly - I am a physicist so I think I know something about space and other planets - earth is a paradise compared to any other planet - it is the garden of eden - talking about building space stations in the void or the wastelands of the moon and mars is just a way of avoiding the real problems we have on earth - and most of those problems have to deal with how we can cooperate and work for the common good - can you imagine a space station run by republicans! - they would be breathing vacuum with a week with their guns and denial of science
49
"a trillion people in space...This would be an incredible civilization,” Mr. Bezos said. Sounds like heaven. What could go wrong?
12
The billionaires aiming for humans to live in space drives me crazy. Why not use their money for more good on Earth?
34
Human kind will never have any home but Earth, and it would be much better for it and humanity if people like Bezos put their money and effort into making it a less polluted, more livable place, instead of indulging their glitzy fantasies about leaving it behind.
105
@John The tech that allows for space flight is fundamentally the tech required for sustainable living in any closed environment.
In other words the tech that will allow a space colony will dovetail perfectly with more sustainable living on earth.
You can't develop high tech sustainable space living without also building sustainable earth tech too.
Space flight is sexy, it captures our imagination. The water filtration systems they develop for space will be equally useful on earth.
This is a darn sight better than putting our best minds to new ways to simply sell ads online for the latest and greatest over packaged shampoo.
Space tech has real sex appeal. Harness it for one project and the collateral benefits won't be long to follow back on the ground.
5
@Christopher>> Where would we be in terms of feeding the poor, cleaning the air and water, curbing population growth, curing cancer and malaria, preventing climate change, promoting development in the third world and healthier living in the rest of the world, etc., if the billions spent on the first moon program had been spent for these problems on earth? How many solutions for these problems came from the Apollo program? Our planet does not have several decades for tech solutions to trickle down from another moon shot program.
4
@John
Yes, let's take care of all these problems here. Who needs to go to this so-called new world of "America" when Europe has so many problems still to be solved? I'm sure the cost of all those expeditions will never be covered by....
While I'm at it, tell me what worth a new born baby has?
5
Only someone who lives in a tech bubble would believe that people will be happy living in space. Out of touch with everything that makes us human, alone with only our own kind, with grieving, guilty memories of an overpopulated and poisoned Earth and no succor from the oceans and atmosphere, the glaciers, forests, soil and birdsong, all that makes us feel that we have souls. Will we be kind people out there, happy? Will our children have the kiss of the sun on their cheeks, the sparkle of the waves in their eyes? Will they have dreams that come from being part of a whole, living thing? We will justify the last bite, the last cut, the last dig and the last burn to feed the ego dream of space habitation. So many times we've been victims of our fantasies, welcoming slavery, over-industrialization, manifest destiny, world domination by warfare, and every time we fail to learn the basic lesson of our humanity.
84
@tony that was beautiful!!!!!!!
2
Earth’s biosphere will disintegrate and disappear long before any of Bezos’ Off-Earth settlement fantasies can materialize.
If Bezos (and Gates, Buffet, Ballmer, Musk, Zuckerberg, Ellison, MBS, Putin, Xi, et al) actually, sincerely want to accomplish something of lasting value and importance with their vast accumulated wealth they should become stewards of the Earth. They should massively support a last ditch stand to save what’s left of Earth’s biosphere — our collective heritage — before it’s gone; and irretrievable.
39
Why doesn’t Jeff build a better here rather than advocate moving there? By the way humans were built for the earths gravitational field.
12
Will we be able to get 1 day delivery on the moon?
7
I don’t know why... it’s not my field of expertise... but I would think the far side of the moon would be an interesting place to live.
It is close by, much closer than Mars, and it is a place where you never see Earth.
It does, however, receive plenty of sunlight, and there must be some value for some venture, science or commercial, for such an interesting place.
Big things start small. What a wonderful quote to read in the morning.
6
Am I alone in thinking that humans would probably have a really hard time building a healthy society in space?
Just look at the current trajectories of our expectations for wealth, freedom, personal achievement, consumption, success—and the often questionable grace with which we get along with our neighbors. Not to mention our ecological track record or our trends in politics!
All these things will be radically different or more challenging in space. Pressure domes seem likely to turn into pressure cookers; I’m not sure where the utopian enthusiasm comes from.
It’s all well and good for heavily vetted specialists with rare, even temperaments that realistically represent about .0001% of the population to live in an experimental habitat for a year; but just imagine an average cross section of average people from urban Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Topeka or Key West living for years in very tight, very difficult conditions. We don’t even get along now with endless miles of open, reasonably breathable sky between us.
Maybe I’m just a grumpy old pessimist, but if we can’t do it now on Earth, how will going to space magically change that dynamic?
I think given the choice, most people will opt for some kind of immersive VR life instead.
17
Humanity doesn’t currently seem to be moving towards utopia here on Earth. Personally, I’m skeptical.that running off to space will fix any fundamental problems.
Amazon is a prime mover in the trend towards consolidating resources in the 0.1%. I don’t trust Jeff Bezos to know what is truly in humanity’s interest.
78
@DB yours is the “usual dirge” I mentioned in my comment, one that accompanies these stories. I heard it in the 60s, too.
Nonsense. If their is ROI for human settlements in space, it is going to happen.
Wishing otherwise will not stop it. So we need to do this right, to improve our species and our blue home.
6