A thousand Einsteins and a thousand Mozarts
Notes for a critical analysis of Jeff Bezos’ spacial utopia
Keywords:
Extraplanetary imaginaries, sociotechnical imaginaries, Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin, space expansionismAbstract
The Earth and humanity both face an impending collapse. The way out? Outer space. That is how the Silicon Valley billionaires propose to save the planet: through colonizing space, powered both by an unshakable optimism in technology’s potential and by pessimism toward a catastrophic future. According to Richard Tutton, this set of practices and discourses, which fuel space expansion plans, can be understood as extraplanetary imaginaries. Thus, considering the aforementioned concept, introduced by the author to investigate Elon Musk’s aerospatial activities in SpaceX, the present study aims to utilize the concept of extraplanetary imaginaries as theorized by Tutton to criticize Jeff Bezos’ – Musk’s most important opponent – narratives and actions, and to examine why those utopian visions do not work towards obtaining the benefit of the Earth and the humanity, as promised, but to expand the wealth of a minority.
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