On 21 July 2021, one of the world’s richest men, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, staged a press conference in the small town of Van Horn, Texas, the purpose of which was to boast about his recent ten-minute joy ride into space atop a rocket so comically penis-shaped that one could be forgiven for thinking that the whole exercise was intended as an outrageously expensive joke, albeit one that Mel Brooks would likely have rejected for its lack of subtlety. Dressed in matching blue jumpsuits and looking thoroughly pleased with themselves, Bezos and his three fellow space cadets sat in a row on their wooden highchairs, framed by an enormous set of thrusters, while a lickspittle with the unnaturally thick hair, glittering dental work, and unctuous demeanour of a game-show host lauded them as great heroes and benefactors to humankind.