UNNECESSARY HYPE

This is with reference to the article “The obscene space race fuelled by billionaires,” (July 21).

Why not use the same optimism to end world hunger? Society is warped and so are its rules. It needs to be structured in such a way that no single person or a couple of people would be able to hoard so much money and power as to be able to change the world and not do it. Surely there must be a way to mend capitalism. Perhaps put a curb on how much money billionaires can accumulate. Any money beyond the maximum limit goes to the construction of schools and eradicating disease.

The media has the news of Richard Branson and Bezos’s space flight splashed on their pages. But a lot of people couldn’t care less for this ego competition between Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. The earth is literally on fire and there are these rich men wanting to “conquer” outer space. There was a story in your daily some days ago which while lopsidedly lauding Richard Branson and his daredevil acts, pointed out, “Branson certainly does not have charity on his mind when he undertook the flight to space.”

If one’s place on earth doesn’t make a positive difference to earth’s inhabitants, the place is a wasted place. Branson seems to be a man so full of himself as was evident in the story, “He insisted on a global livestream of the event and invited stars from the entertainment industry and former astronauts to watch him.”

I couldn’t care less. I find it more interesting to read about the girl who won the US Spelling Bee.

Venita Prabhu By email