{"id":18172,"date":"2019-01-19T18:14:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-19T10:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/jeff-bezos-on-going-to-space-vs-making-earth-better-it-shouldnt-be-either-or\/"},"modified":"2019-01-19T18:14:51","modified_gmt":"2019-01-19T10:14:51","slug":"jeff-bezos-on-going-to-space-vs-making-earth-better-it-shouldnt-be-either-or","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/jeff-bezos-on-going-to-space-vs-making-earth-better-it-shouldnt-be-either-or\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos on going to space vs. making Earth better: \u2018It shouldn\u2019t be either-or\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"John
John Travolta and Jeff Bezos share the stage at the Living Legends of Aviation awards ceremony. (LLOA Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. \u2014 Jeff Bezos, the world\u2019s richest person and the founder of Amazon as well as the Blue Origin space venture, defended his billion-dollar-a-year expense on space travel here on Friday night in front of a receptive, star-studded crowd.<\/p>\n

The occasion was the 16th annual Living Legends of Aviation awards ceremony, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel with John Travolta as host and Harrison Ford as one of the celebrity presenters. The event, produced as a fundraiser for the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy, honors those who have made significant contributions to aviation.<\/p>\n

Bezos got a triple dose of recognition, thanks to his induction into the Living Legends lineup plus his acceptance of the Kenn Ricci Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award and a newly created honor called the Jeff Bezos Freedom\u2019s Wings Award.<\/p>\n

After receiving the Freedom\u2019s Wings trophy from Airbus CEO Tom Enders, Bezos sat down for one of his traditional fireside chats. At one point, Bezos was asked why he should spend money on space exploration rather than on earthly issues that need fixing.<\/p>\n

The question addressed the controversy that Bezos faced last year after telling an interviewer that Blue Origin, which he\u2019s supporting to the tune of a billion dollars a year, ranked as \u201cthe most important work that I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, Bezos created a $2 billion Day One Fund to focus on helping homeless families and improving preschool education. At the Beverly Hills ceremony, the billionaire gave a nuanced summary of his spending philosophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you take the big picture, you should spend money here on Earth,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a lot of important objectives here on Earth we need to do here and now. The real question is, it shouldn\u2019t be framed as an either-or choice. You also have to spend some money on things that are 10 years out, 20 years out, 50 years out, 100 years out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bezos said he wants \u201ca whole diversified portfolio of trying to do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n