Jeff Bezos. William Shatner. Jared Isaacman. Michael Strahan. Hamish Harding. Larry Connor.

What do these folks, and many more, have in common? They are space tourists. And there is a lot of hate on the Internet for them. The usual vitriol goes something like this: “We have so many problems here on earth why are rich people getting to fly around in space. We should tax them so they can’t afford this and use the money to solve (fill in your favorite social justice problem here).” Not all space tourists are billionaires, but for the most part they are some of the the wealthiest and famous people in the world.

If there’s anything we’ve learned it’s that very wealthy people will never be taxed at the level that social justice warriors want. They have enough lawyers and enough loopholes to ensure that, short of a violent communist revolution, they won’t be taxed into poverty. Nor should they be. Aside from making fantastic amounts of money (and in some cases flaunting it) they also tend to employ thousands, or tens of thousands of people (through the businesses they control). There’s no better solution to poverty than gainful employment. Not only does it fill the bank account but it affords a level of dignity that handouts can’t match.

And they do pay taxes. A lot of money in taxes on actual income. Most of the billions that people like Bezos and Gates ‘have’ is tied up in stock and is unrealized gain. It’s only when they sell it and take the money that they are taxed. Just like you and I. I think the near-dystopian jealousy that I hear in people’s voices when it comes to these folks is childish and represents its own form of thinly-veiled entitlement. Remember, compared to rest of the world, pretty much everyone in the US is a one-percenter. Nothing like fighting poverty and injustice by tapping on your $900 iPhone.

But there’s another reason (besides maturity and perspective) that we shouldn’t hate these folks. They are risking their lives to pioneer something that many more people will enjoy (or will become work/jobs) in the coming decades and centuries. As the crew and passengers of the imploded Titan submersible would attest (if they were here), it’s dangerous. It’s not easy. There’s considerable risk and a little miscalculation (or in the case of the Titan an unhealthy dose of hubris) can cost dearly. Having a lot of money doesn’t change the laws of physics and rich people die all the time.

So instead of whining that we can’t fly to low earth orbit for a few minutes, or descend to the wreck of the Titanic (only to be recovered in bits a week or two later) we should consider that these folks, if all goes well, are pushing the boundaries of what humans can and will do. Or we can march on toward a world that looks more like ‘The Hunger Games’. I for one, am glad that folks like Jeff and Elon are pushing us closer to a future where humanity is a space-faring species, living on many worlds someday. As Shatner once said famously, ‘to boldly go’.