woodenhead

They may be entitled to spend their money as they please, but others are entitled to have opinions - especially when so much fuel is being burned unncesesarily (in the case of Virgin at least). Surely it would be nice if wealthy people used their money for good - doing things such as providing books for impoverished children. I'm not sure why you take such offense to that suggestion.

If I were in the position of the men we are discussing, that is the sort of thing I would want to do with the majority of my excess wealth. If I were to put resources towards a space mission, it would be one which actually benefits humanity, such as conducting research or providing communications infrastructure to areas where it is lacking. I certainly wouldn't be spending it all on pointless joyrides into space with an enourmous environmental cost.

Maybe they do give a huge amount of money to good causes, but don't see the need to publicise what is a very personal thing.  Its their money, they can spend it as they wish.  Would you be happy to be told how to spend your money?

Yes, space flights have a huge carbon footprint.  So do our 'pointless' holidays to the sun, and so do our model trains.

Firstly, and for the purposes of information only, your assumptions about the carbon footprint of 'our' leisure activities are very broad, and (though you would have no reason to know) may not be entirely correct. I will not fly any more unless it is absolutely unavoidable. Nearly all of my models are second hand, and in recent times nearly all purchases have been from local sellers and collected in person (travelling on foot or by bicycle). They have a carbon footprint, but the majority of it was created before I was born, and was not something I contributed to. Even if this were not the case, I would be willing to guess that the carbon footprint of a 00 gauge locomotive is significantly less than a trip on Mr Branson's space plane. Alas, as concrete figures will be hard to come by, that conjecture is not likely to be fertile ground for an enlightened discussion.

Secondly, to address the question which seems to be the more fundamental point of your post, I wouldn't care if somebody suggested a way that they felt I could spend my money better. If I came to agree I would thank them; if not I would ignore them. If I were being compelled to do something I disagreed with that may be a different matter, though of course I am not attempting to compel Mr Branson or Mr Bezos to do anything. I am merely suggesting that in their position I would do things differently to them - in a way which I feel would be more beneficial for society - and no harm will come to anybody as a result of that.