<story><title>Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres</title><url>https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/20/media/van-jones-bezos-100-million/index.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aylmao</author><text>&amp;gt; The Earth is going to die one day. [...] If we wish to ensure the long-term survival of the only intelligent life in the universe that we know about (as well as the survival of all the other creatures on Earth, who don&amp;#x27;t have our knowledge) then adapting, exploring, and surviving in space is what we must do.&lt;p&gt;I think that&amp;#x27;s the gripe. We all wish to ensure our long-term survival, but worrying about becoming a multi-planetary species today —as we&amp;#x27;re polluting the earth at an unsustainable rate, as we&amp;#x27;re still fighting wars, as we loose millions a year to disease and as the possibility of higher education remains a privilege for few— sounds like making the wrong investment.</text></item><item><author>jamesgreenleaf</author><text>The Earth is going to die one day. The Sun will die too. There is no guarantee that intelligent life will survive on this single planet, even if we do a perfect job of taking care of it. Catastrophic, species-killing events can happen at any time. If we wish to ensure the long-term survival of the only intelligent life in the universe that we know about (as well as the survival of all the other creatures on Earth, who don&amp;#x27;t have our knowledge) then adapting, exploring, and surviving in space is what we must do. It absolutely surprises me that relatively few people seem to understand (or voice) this fact. We may have a long time to accomplish it, but that it should be our primary goal is extremely clear.</text></item><item><author>sofixa</author><text>&amp;gt; It&amp;#x27;s how we get to the moon and Mars and how we survive as a species. It&amp;#x27;s what&amp;#x27;s next.&lt;p&gt;I find it extremely weird that people are banking on a (almost literal) moonshot for the survival of our species. Isn&amp;#x27;t trying to stop&amp;#x2F;lessen the damage we&amp;#x27;re doing to the place we currently live and which can sustain us better and  more optimistic proposition than hoping a metric shitton of things go perfectly after probably millions of man-hours and trillions of dollars in order for a privileged few to go live on Mars in underground settlements with artificial everything to sustain life there? Ffs, all the rocket tests create enormous amounts of CO2 emissions, among other things, actively helping to make the Earth less habitable.</text></item><item><author>Zelphyr</author><text>All the critics lobbing cynicism against Bezos, Branson, and Musk saying, in essence, that their money is better spent here at home reminds me of a wonderful scene from The West Wing when one character asks why we have to go to Mars:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&amp;#x27;Cause it&amp;#x27;s next. For we came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill, and we saw fire. And we crossed the ocean, and we pioneered the West, and we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on the timeline of exploration, and this is what&amp;#x27;s next.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;I personally don&amp;#x27;t care that these billionaires are spending their money on vacations to orbit. It&amp;#x27;s how we get to the moon and Mars and how we survive as a species. It&amp;#x27;s what&amp;#x27;s next.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>yupper32</author><text>&amp;gt; sounds like making the wrong investment.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s not the wrong investment. It&amp;#x27;s a different investment.&lt;p&gt;Other billionaires are working on some of the problems on your list, too, if that makes you feel better. The most prominent one being Bill Gates. He&amp;#x27;s working on the &amp;quot;we lose millions a year to disease&amp;quot; portion of your list. Do you hate on Bill Gates because he isn&amp;#x27;t solving world peace (&amp;quot;fighting wars&amp;quot; on your list)?&lt;p&gt;Space dominance is a multi-generational thing. It&amp;#x27;s something that will take a LONG time to figure out and perfect. If in 150 years we see an unavoidable rock hurling towards earth, there won&amp;#x27;t be time to figure out how to keep our species alive. We need to push forward now to have a chance.</text></comment>
<story><title>Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres</title><url>https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/20/media/van-jones-bezos-100-million/index.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aylmao</author><text>&amp;gt; The Earth is going to die one day. [...] If we wish to ensure the long-term survival of the only intelligent life in the universe that we know about (as well as the survival of all the other creatures on Earth, who don&amp;#x27;t have our knowledge) then adapting, exploring, and surviving in space is what we must do.&lt;p&gt;I think that&amp;#x27;s the gripe. We all wish to ensure our long-term survival, but worrying about becoming a multi-planetary species today —as we&amp;#x27;re polluting the earth at an unsustainable rate, as we&amp;#x27;re still fighting wars, as we loose millions a year to disease and as the possibility of higher education remains a privilege for few— sounds like making the wrong investment.</text></item><item><author>jamesgreenleaf</author><text>The Earth is going to die one day. The Sun will die too. There is no guarantee that intelligent life will survive on this single planet, even if we do a perfect job of taking care of it. Catastrophic, species-killing events can happen at any time. If we wish to ensure the long-term survival of the only intelligent life in the universe that we know about (as well as the survival of all the other creatures on Earth, who don&amp;#x27;t have our knowledge) then adapting, exploring, and surviving in space is what we must do. It absolutely surprises me that relatively few people seem to understand (or voice) this fact. We may have a long time to accomplish it, but that it should be our primary goal is extremely clear.</text></item><item><author>sofixa</author><text>&amp;gt; It&amp;#x27;s how we get to the moon and Mars and how we survive as a species. It&amp;#x27;s what&amp;#x27;s next.&lt;p&gt;I find it extremely weird that people are banking on a (almost literal) moonshot for the survival of our species. Isn&amp;#x27;t trying to stop&amp;#x2F;lessen the damage we&amp;#x27;re doing to the place we currently live and which can sustain us better and  more optimistic proposition than hoping a metric shitton of things go perfectly after probably millions of man-hours and trillions of dollars in order for a privileged few to go live on Mars in underground settlements with artificial everything to sustain life there? Ffs, all the rocket tests create enormous amounts of CO2 emissions, among other things, actively helping to make the Earth less habitable.</text></item><item><author>Zelphyr</author><text>All the critics lobbing cynicism against Bezos, Branson, and Musk saying, in essence, that their money is better spent here at home reminds me of a wonderful scene from The West Wing when one character asks why we have to go to Mars:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&amp;#x27;Cause it&amp;#x27;s next. For we came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill, and we saw fire. And we crossed the ocean, and we pioneered the West, and we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on the timeline of exploration, and this is what&amp;#x27;s next.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;I personally don&amp;#x27;t care that these billionaires are spending their money on vacations to orbit. It&amp;#x27;s how we get to the moon and Mars and how we survive as a species. It&amp;#x27;s what&amp;#x27;s next.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>joe_the_user</author><text>Yeah, the idea that current space initiatives have relationship to preserving humans from the destruction of earth is ridiculous and contemptable. Even an incredibly polluted earth experiencing runaway global is going to remain less hostile than anywhere else for a long time. &lt;i&gt;And that&amp;#x27;s not saying the species would survive on such an earth.&lt;/i&gt;</text></comment>