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I agree that there's no scientific or engineering achievement here and that this ride is essentially joyriding. I disagree that we should deride rich people fo

by q1w2 5y ago

I agree that there's no scientific or engineering achievement here and that this ride is essentially joyriding. I disagree that we should deride rich people for spending money the way they want. I splurge on things sometimes as well. Unlike a lot of modern social media, I don't think there's anything inherently immoral about being wealthy. If someone has an argument about what these specific people did that was specifically immoral to achieve their wealth, then they should call that out specifically and suggest a systemic change. I find the mindless rich-people-hate to be nothing more than juvenile hate.

natch 5y ago
It’s remarkable that such a mature, sane, and rational perspective has been downvoted at the time of this writing to the point of being dead. Like anyone I am alarmed by over-the-top displays of wealth but that’s not really all this was. There is a lot more going on here. Blue Origin needs a lot more test flights as they ramp up and increase their capabilities. They also need demonstration flights to hep increase confidence about their services. And it totally makes sense to allow some people with the resources to help subsidize the effort, while having some fun and enlarging their perspective. I think this experience was super meaningful for everyone involved, and we shouldn’t try to denigrate it. Sad to see HN not taking a more open minded view here, as evidenced by your post being hn-dead. And I say all this even not being a fan of the way Bezos has sometimes falsely claimed credit for “firsts” that were not really firsts, like when they landed a rocket (propulsive landing) while pretending that SpaceX had not done so in a much more challenging way already.
- nemetroid 5y ago
  I don’t think the comment deserves downvoting, but I cannot agree that this characterization - dismissing those who disagree as mindless and juvenile - is mature. > I find the mindless rich-people-hate to be nothing more than juvenile hate.
jstsch 5y ago
Sorry, I meant 'rich people' as a neutral term, I do not attach any value to it or intend to deride someone for their wealth. I think that in general people should do as they want, as long as they don't harm others. To rephrase: I felt that the entire flight was a bit underwhelming, and that it felt more like an amusement park ride (with a very expensive ticket price) than an actual spaceflight with astronauts, even though it was communicated that way.
mavhc 5y ago
Problem is you only get rich by taking money for other people's work. But as long as everyone also pays to clean up the pollution they cause, not terrible.
- TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
  Jeff Bezos could vaccinate the entire world against Covid without changing his lifestyle even slightly. He could hire the smartest people in the world to work on breakthrough propulsion, SETI, blue sky physics, and computing research. The money would barely be a rounding error in his wealth. He could fund the greatest space observatories in history, fund game changing contributions to cancer research, genomics, and other experimental medicine, and set up international STEM education programs. Instead he builds a toy rocket that looks like a penis and goes on a 2 minute joyride to the edge of space. And something something space hotels, maybe. It's debatable if it's evil. But it's certainly lacking ambition and boring.
  - GiorgioG 5y ago
    > It's debatable if it's evil. But it's certainly lacking ambition and boring. He's the richest man on earth - who started one of the biggest and most successful companies on the planet, I'd say he had plenty of ambition. Excuse him for having a little fun. "He could do this, that and the other thing." Well thank you for telling him what he should/could do with his money. You know what, why don't you go start a company with a 1.8T market cap, and you can do all these noble things. All you need is some ambition to do something less boring, right?
    - zaaakk 5y ago
      You have no moral compass. Your only guidance for what is right is money. If he has the money to do it then it is justified. There is something missing in your brain and that is why you will eagerly simp for a billionaire.
      - cbm-vic-20 5y ago
weaksauce 5y ago
> I find the mindless rich-people-hate to be nothing more than juvenile hate. maybe it's the fact that a small school's population of people own 60% of all wealth on earth that gives these vanity shows of wealth a bad taste in their mouths.
a3n 5y ago
Wearing out the bodies and dignity of Amazon floor workers.
alexashka 5y ago
> I disagree that we should deride rich people for spending money the way they want. Why? Is it ok if I deride people who molest their own kids? I mean, it's how they choose to spend their time, who am I to judge right? The way society works is by deciding collectively what's ok, and that's decided based on people's tastes. My tastes are that no small group of people should have power over large groups of people without their ongoing consent. Any system that isn't like that is garbage and anyone interested in power over other people is human garbage. Today's society is wage slavery in developed countries, colonialism and barbarism everywhere else - it is garbage and anyone with a modicum of power doing anything but attempting to change the status quo is clueless or human garbage. Why would wage slaves not resent their masters, or people colonized, not resent colonialists? Anything but deep resentment and derision is surprising, frankly.

by q1w2 5y ago

natch 5y ago

It’s remarkable that such a mature, sane, and rational perspective has been downvoted at the time of this writing to the point of being dead. Like anyone I am alarmed by over-the-top displays of wealth but that’s not really all this was. There is a lot more going on here. Blue Origin needs a lot more test flights as they ramp up and increase their capabilities. They also need demonstration flights to hep increase confidence about their services. And it totally makes sense to allow some people with the resources to help subsidize the effort, while having some fun and enlarging their perspective. I think this experience was super meaningful for everyone involved, and we shouldn’t try to denigrate it. Sad to see HN not taking a more open minded view here, as evidenced by your post being hn-dead. And I say all this even not being a fan of the way Bezos has sometimes falsely claimed credit for “firsts” that were not really firsts, like when they landed a rocket (propulsive landing) while pretending that SpaceX had not done so in a much more challenging way already.

nemetroid 5y ago
I don’t think the comment deserves downvoting, but I cannot agree that this characterization - dismissing those who disagree as mindless and juvenile - is mature. > I find the mindless rich-people-hate to be nothing more than juvenile hate.

jstsch 5y ago

Sorry, I meant 'rich people' as a neutral term, I do not attach any value to it or intend to deride someone for their wealth. I think that in general people should do as they want, as long as they don't harm others. To rephrase: I felt that the entire flight was a bit underwhelming, and that it felt more like an amusement park ride (with a very expensive ticket price) than an actual spaceflight with astronauts, even though it was communicated that way.

mavhc 5y ago

Problem is you only get rich by taking money for other people's work. But as long as everyone also pays to clean up the pollution they cause, not terrible.

TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
Jeff Bezos could vaccinate the entire world against Covid without changing his lifestyle even slightly. He could hire the smartest people in the world to work on breakthrough propulsion, SETI, blue sky physics, and computing research. The money would barely be a rounding error in his wealth. He could fund the greatest space observatories in history, fund game changing contributions to cancer research, genomics, and other experimental medicine, and set up international STEM education programs. Instead he builds a toy rocket that looks like a penis and goes on a 2 minute joyride to the edge of space. And something something space hotels, maybe. It's debatable if it's evil. But it's certainly lacking ambition and boring.
- GiorgioG 5y ago
  > It's debatable if it's evil. But it's certainly lacking ambition and boring. He's the richest man on earth - who started one of the biggest and most successful companies on the planet, I'd say he had plenty of ambition. Excuse him for having a little fun. "He could do this, that and the other thing." Well thank you for telling him what he should/could do with his money. You know what, why don't you go start a company with a 1.8T market cap, and you can do all these noble things. All you need is some ambition to do something less boring, right?
  - zaaakk 5y ago
    You have no moral compass. Your only guidance for what is right is money. If he has the money to do it then it is justified. There is something missing in your brain and that is why you will eagerly simp for a billionaire.
    - cbm-vic-20 5y ago

weaksauce 5y ago

> I find the mindless rich-people-hate to be nothing more than juvenile hate. maybe it's the fact that a small school's population of people own 60% of all wealth on earth that gives these vanity shows of wealth a bad taste in their mouths.

a3n 5y ago

Wearing out the bodies and dignity of Amazon floor workers.

alexashka 5y ago

> I disagree that we should deride rich people for spending money the way they want. Why? Is it ok if I deride people who molest their own kids? I mean, it's how they choose to spend their time, who am I to judge right? The way society works is by deciding collectively what's ok, and that's decided based on people's tastes. My tastes are that no small group of people should have power over large groups of people without their ongoing consent. Any system that isn't like that is garbage and anyone interested in power over other people is human garbage. Today's society is wage slavery in developed countries, colonialism and barbarism everywhere else - it is garbage and anyone with a modicum of power doing anything but attempting to change the status quo is clueless or human garbage. Why would wage slaves not resent their masters, or people colonized, not resent colonialists? Anything but deep resentment and derision is surprising, frankly.