As if mega-billionaires don’t cause enough problems, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is marrying actress/journalist Lauren Sánchez in Venice sometime this weekend. The actual date has been kept secret. The duo practically rented the entire community for their pleasure; countless celebrities and other high-profile individuals attended. Greenpeace joined protests against the global wealthy elite and displayed the above banner in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square, amidst the festivities.
“The problem is not the wedding, the problem is the system. We think that one big billionaire can’t rent a city for his pleasure,” Simona Abbate, one of the protesters, told Reuters.
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro defended the event by arguing that it will bring an economic windfall to local businesses.
Bezos has vowed to make sizable charity donations, including a million euros for Corila, an academic consortium that studies Venice’s lagoon ecosystem.
It’s almost ironic. Venice is built on a lagoon and has become a battlefront for climate change activists. Sea levels continue to rise, and places like Venice are in danger of literally drowning.
Chief Writing Wolf 