Bezos wedding a marriage of exhibitionism and excess

I would go further than Jacqueline Maley (“The Bezos-Sanchez wedding party proves we live in an age of vulgarity”, June 29). The Bezos-Sanchez wedding surpassed vulgarity. It was an obscenity. If there were ever an argument against a wealth tax on billionaires, it was dispelled by that single event. Tony Judge, Woolgoolga

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. You look at the positives and negatives of Bezos’ nuptials. Jeff Bezos apparently pays a 1.1 per cent tax currently, substantially lower than the average American pays, which is likely to decrease further once the Trump bill passes through the US Congress and Senate. Having said that, Bezos has contributed to the Venice economy in the past few days in a way they could only dream of. But he can’t beat Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s son’s wedding last year – apparently Ambani spent over $US$1.1 billion, which supported the local economy in India, and he also invited the world’s who’s who, including Tony Blair and many other influencers. In both cases, it’s their own wealth they are spending or showing off, though it might look vulgar and obscene to an average punter in the street. That’s life, as Derryn Hinch used to say. Mukul Desai, Hunters Hill

Jacqueline Maley sums up glaring divide between the so-called rich, famous and powerful and a society desperately struggling to survive. The excess and blatant display of wealth and self-importance is all about those who telegraph to the world that despite global uncertainty, exhibitionism is of greater importance. For those of us whose love brought them to a wedding ceremony in a time and place very different to that of today, the simplicity of the occasion is something to be cherished. While we wish the newlywed couple well for their future happiness, our hope is that they retain an everlasting love that transcends the extravagance. Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook

According to the long-held view “the more expensive the wedding, the quicker the divorce”, this marriage will be very short indeed. Heather Johnson, West Pennant Hills

Creepy AI friends

It is concerning that many young children and teenagers (or adults, for that matter) have no human confidant and must rely on an AI chatbot for interaction (“Her best friend wasn’t real, but they still spoke every day”, June 29). “Invisible friends” and diaries have always provided a safe haven for thoughts and creative play, but AI bots deliver a menacing undertow where control is limited and information flow is indeterminate. Many of our children and the vulnerable are at risk, and safeguards need to be calculated to allow safe interaction both in the “now” and the future use of personal and confidential information. Janice Creenaune, Austinmer

Shut up and shop

I sympathise with Thomas Mitchell’s aversion to insincere retail bonhomie (“Does the customer want to chat? Since you asked, no”, June 29). But far worse than shop assistants who chattily probe the details of one’s social calendar is the irritation of having a fellow shopper insist on amiably blathering on to said assistant, with both of them oblivious to the growing queue. Maybe the “dreaded manager” lurking somewhere offstage could “offer feedback” to the assistant that those of us who just want to get in and get out as quickly and efficiently as possible would appreciate a timely acknowledgement of our existence as a polite nudge to the bottlenecker to keep it moving. Adrian Connelly, Springwood

Degrees of toxicity