What Jeff Bezos has to say to critics who want him to spend his money on Earth and not space – Times of India

NEW DELHI: In the last one year or so, the race to space has intensified with heavyweights like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson showing more than keen interest. This has led to critics questioning whether these billionaires are better off spending their vast amount of wealth on earth rather than space. Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos was recently asked what he has to say about this criticism.
According to a report by Business Insider, Bezos while speaking at an event said that “we need to do both, and that the two things are deeply connected,” when asked whether it’s wise to spend on space exploration and travel.
Elaborating on the importance of space travel, Bezos said that there is a “tremendous amount to be done in the here and now, and we cannot forget about that. But at the same time in a deeply connected way, we need to look to the future.”
Bezos further said that humans have always looked at the present and at the future. “And this planet is so small, if we want to keep growing as a civilisation, using more energy as a civilisation, most of that in the future needs to be done off-planet,” he added.
The CEO of Blue Origin — Bezos’ space exploration company — said that he was spending a lot more money on his philanthropic venture Bezos Earth Fund rather than on space travel. Bezos has set aside $10 billion to combat climate change by 2030 through his philanthropic venture.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk was also questioned about spending his billions on space exploration and not on solving the world’s hunger problem.