LIKE most people here on Guam, I was fascinated by director James Cameron’s recent dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Talk about a Renaissance man! Not only has Mr. Cameron directed two of the most popular movies of all time, he himself designed the 3-D photographic equipment needed to fulfill his vision for “Avatar.”

And how did he relax afterwards? By creating a submersible capable of plunging to the deepest point in the Pacific, and then piloting it down himself.

How could anyone hope to top that?

Several weeks later we found out that Cameron himself – and a group of his fellow billionaires – are already doing it. Together they’ve formed a company dedicated to venturing into space and mining asteroids. I, for one, have little doubt they will succeed.

Being the life-long science-fiction fan that I am, my first reaction was WOW! Way to go guys! Looks like we won’t be ceding space exploration to the Chinese after all. But after a little while, the irony of the situation started to hit me. The basic premise of “Avatar” was, after all, that a mining company owned by the ultra-rich “elite” had gone into space to extract all the wealth they could from other planets for themselves. Sound familiar?

And what about the quaint notion that space and its resources should be the common heritage of all mankind ... as should the deep-sea resources of our own planet? Weren’t such sentiments once enshrined in solemn international agreements? Guess those days are gone. Guess we shouldn’t think that way when there’s money to be made.

But how is such a thing even possible? How is it that a small group of men can control so much wealth that space exploration – once the very definition of the type of project that could only be done by an entire nation pulling together – is realistically within their grasp?

A look at the chart makes it easy to understand.

Since the end of World War II, productivity in the United States has seen astounding growth. Until the early 1970s, these increases in productivity and increases in both hourly wages and median household income rose at almost identical rates.

Since then, however, the lines have diverged. Wages for working people have remained almost flat, but productivity has continued to rise. Instead of everyone sharing in the benefits of the technological explosion we have witnessed in the last 40 years – basic American common sense in the 1950s and '60s – almost everything has gone to a handful of people at the top. Not the 1 percent, the 0.1 percent.

And so James Cameron and his friends are headed into space.

Don’t get me wrong, however. I have the greatest respect for Mr. Cameron, and I can think of no group of private investors I would rather see involved in a project like this.

The problem is, where they go, will the Koch brothers be far behind?

I’m not opposed to the idea put forward by Sens. Yamashita and Respicio to try and collect a little money from those who visit the depths of the Mariana Trench. At least they make us think about the legitimate question of whose ocean it really is ... and whose sky.