Lost in space
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
This is: A weekly column consisting of letters to my perspicacious progeny. I write letters to my grandkids — the Stickies — eventual selves to advise them and haunt them after they've become grups and/or I'm deleted.
Warning: This column is rated SSC — Sexy Seasoned Citizens — Perusal by kids, callowyutes, or grups may result in an intersectional meltdown. Intended for H. sapiens who are — in the words of the late, great bon vivant, polymath, and pic-a-nic basket expert, Professor Y. Bear — "Smarter than the av-er-age bear."
"Kings may be judges of the Earth, but wise men are the judges of kings."
-Solomon Ibn Gabirol
Dear (eventual) Grandstickies and Great-Grandstickies (and Gentlereaders),
When I'm the King of America, Jeff Bezos, and his fellow high-tech robber barons will be summoned to visit the royal residence and have a beer with me.
{Robber Barons?}
Selling us stuff we want is one thing; selling us (in the form of our stealthily accumulated data) without cutting us in while simultaneously "disrupting" entire industries (destroying jobs) while claiming to be social justice warriors is quite another.
I have some problems with how Lord Jeffrey and his fellow barons conduct themselves, but I must admit that, unlike Prince William, the heir to the British throne, he did make his own fortune and wasn't born with a silver toothpick in his mouth.
He does sell titanium ones for less than ten bucks though.
{You're incorrectly conflating Prince William and Prince Charles. Chuck sucks on a silver toothpick and is the heir to the throne. His son Billy is the next one in line.}
Are you sure? Wait a sec', I'll be right back...
You got me. Chuck — world-class environmental activist — is still the official heir to the throne. And, he travels with a silver-plated porcupine quill toothpick (among other interesting things) when he zips around the globe in private jets saving us from ourselves.
But Chuck is now 72 and his mum, who by now should be the Queen Mum, not the Queen, is 95. If not for the embarrassing Chuck and Di disaster she would've stepped aside long ago.
She fantasizes about the good old days when she could've had him beheaded, or at least locked in the Tower along with Prince Harry the Hairy and Princess Meghan the Lowborn. Then she could hang out in the palace, maintain a discrete buzz, advise her preferred heir (Billy), and watch the servants play with her great-grandkids.
{How the hell do you...}
We occasionally chat via burner phones and we text each other regularly. She's advising me on running for king in '24, although she thinks a coup d'état makes more sense.
This brings us to Prince Billy and his recent gentlemanly smackdown of Lord Jeffrey — as well as Sir Richard, Tony Stark, and Captain Kirk.
{Wait, what are you...}
Sir Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and William Shatner.
For the record, Mr. Richard Branson became Sir Richard Branson when Queen Lilibet made him a Knight Bachelor to honor him for amassing an unusually large pile of money and Prince Chuck performed the ceremony.
{Smackdown?}
Perhaps I should back up a bit.
Captain Kirk was recently in the news when he took a trip on Lord Jeffrey's rocket ship and became the oldest H. sapien to travel to space, well, as far as we know.
{Is that the rocket ship that looks like the world's largest marital aid?}
That's the one. Anyways, according to an article on the BBCs website, Prince Billy thinks that "...entrepreneurs should focus on saving Earth rather than engaging in space tourism."
He's also worried about rising climate anxiety in young people whose futures are under threat 24x7x365: "It's very unnerving and it's very, you know, anxiety making," and there's a "fundamental question" about carbon emissions from rocket ships.
Your tireless columnist looked into this and you'll be relieved to know that Lord Jeffrey's rocket is powered by liquid hydrogen and oxygen and according to a site called livescience.com: "...the main emissions will be water and some minor combustion products, and virtually no CO2."
In the interest of full disclosure, I was referred to the LIVE SCI=NCE article by a snarky editorial in The Wall Street Journal: "That isn’t to claim no effects: Building the rocket and producing the flight creates carbon emissions, no doubt, but so does putting on a royal wedding with a crowd of global guests and a military flyover."
Snark on! WSJ editorial board.
The collective wealth of the British Royal family dubbed, The Firm by either Lilibet's dad or her late husband, constitutes a plethora of pounds sterling. There's a Wikipedia entry, Finances of the British royal family devoted to it that includes the following interesting passage:
"...the Queen is the only person in Scotland not required to facilitate the construction of pipelines to heat buildings using renewable energy."
If I was born rich, one of the heirs of a royal anachronism, I too would just smile and wave when necessary and find a cause to champion to distract the peasants and assuage my guilt.
I wouldn't jet around the world though, I'd stay home and write checks, smaller carbon footprint.
Poppa loves you,
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