Beach trips should be one of life's true pleasures — a time to unwind, relax, and take in some of the best that nature has to offer. For one Redditor, however, their latest trip instead turned into stress and outrage.
The vacationer shared their experiences in the r/Collapse subreddit. In the post, they describe taking an end-of-year trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands with their family, where they encountered at least eight megayachts of at least 200 feet in length.
"Over four days I saw more mega yachts than I have my total life," the Redditor wrote. "You could say because it's Christmas/NYE, but no, I've traveled during these times before and have never ever ever seen such a display of absurd wealth."
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Superyachts are a striking image of economic disparity, as they can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. They also are among the planet's worst polluters.
An analysis by The Conversation found that a superyacht that has a permanent crew, helicopter pad, submarines, and pools will emit more than 7,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year. That's roughly 1,400 times more than the average gas-burning car emits. A study by Oxfam International found that "an ultra-rich European on their yachts emits, on average, as much carbon as an ordinary European would in 585 years."
Some companies are working to improve that by creating solar electric yachts and using more recycled materials in the building process. But it may be a long time before those are as common as electric vehicles have become.
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Commenters on the Reddit post echoed the original poster's thoughts. Most were disgusted by the amount of wealth needed to own such a superyacht, with many of them thinking about how that money could have been used to instead help the planet.
"What's genuinely wretched about it is the resources have already been expended for the yachts," one commenter said. "That was metal and oil, and literal muscle, human labor, and time that could have gone into building hospitals and infrastructure."
Others suggested considerably higher taxes on such vessels, with those funds being used for environmental causes.
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