Billionaires are throwing money into racing into space while Earth burns

Composite images taken from video of Richard Branson (left) and Jeff Bezos floating in zero gravity on board their spaceships – Virgin Galactic’s 'VSS Unity' (left) and Blue Origin’s 'New Shepard' – after reaching the edge of space on July 11 and 20 respectively. — Reuters/AFP

“Billionaires duel it out over who gets to space first!”

It’s the sort of headline that would fit an episode of The Simpsons 20 years ago, a side gag that would satirise the growing divide between rich and poor, yet we were treated to similar headlines over the past couple of weeks.