Rep. Ro Khanna was on point about these billionaire astronauts being parasites to us all. And it is much deeper and exploitative.
Rep. Ro Khanna is on point
MSNBC Hallie Jackson got one dissenter from the gullible and programmed euphoria surrounding newly minted billionaire astronaut Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin team successful 10-minute roundtrip to space. Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna hit the nail on the head.
“I don’t think I have heard of a bigger oxymoron than talking about billionaires going up into space and then using the word “democratizing,” Rep. Ro Khanna said. “Here are the facts. Amazon has refused to pay any tax in 2017 or 2018. Jeff Bezos didn’t pay tax two of those years. And now they are spending millions of dollars that could have been taxed, using that to go up into space.”
The congressman addressed a deeper problem. He implied that billionaires’ views on the social good are skewed by their view that good only emerges from that which can be capitalized.
As I watched the media exhilaration for something we accomplished 60 years ago with a few bells and whistles, a wave of controlled anger for our willful gullibility to constant fraud perpetrated by the parasitic class came over me. I sent the following Twitter story.
POOPER ALERT: As the media teaches us how to hyperventilate with excitement over something we did 60 years ago with taxpayer dollars, I cannot help but get upset of our programmed gullibility. @VirginGalactic @BlueOrigin
Note that @BlueOrigin and @VirginGalactic were privy to technology we all developed. All enhancements to our composite knowledge that should be in the public domain is now the property of these private companies to be used at their will and for profits to the few millionaires and billionaires.
Let’s be clear, @VirginGalactic reached around 53 miles and @BlueOrigin reached around 65 miles. The Space Station that has been flying for decades with public dollars is orbiting the earth at 240 miles or so. Neither company has yet reached the real space goal but is receiving an inordinate amount of free advertising.
There is one good thing out of this moment. A wrong has been righted. After doing the work, Wally Funk found out NASA was not sending women to space. At 83, she got her opportunity to at least cross the Karman line into space. @VirginGalactic @BlueOrigin
And then it happened. Stephanie Ruhle, whom I respect for her excellent journalism, said that the launch was a display of American Exceptionalism. It absolutely was not. In fact, it is all that is wrong with America right now. I sent her the following tweet.
@SRuhle Love your great reporting and vibrancy, but @BlueOrigin ‘s achievement of the already achieved is not American Exceptionalism. It is gullibility. If billionaires paid their taxes, NASA would do this work where the intellectual property is all ours.
Many give kudos to billionaires for using their money to build things or invest in technology, albeit to make a buck. Many contend that we should give them a break as they are responsible for the genesis of many technological advances. Many say if we cripple their ability to hoard money, that they would curtail innovation. These statements do not hold up to reality.
As an engineer, I can say categorically that the products I created did not come out of wanting to become a billionaire but because I wanted to innovate. That is how it is with most innovators. That is why innovations arise from citizens all over the world. The capitalization of innovation is a different thing. Unfortunately, our economic system gives those who capitalize on the innovation of others the spoils. It creates parasites. We then glorify them.