Internet slams Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk over claims that human population is not large enough

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, two of the world’s wealthiest men, advocated for significant growth in the human population, arguing that more people means more potential for innovation and progress.

As Jeff Bezos emphasized his belief about the need for a larger population on episode 405 of the 'Lex Fridman Podcast', previous comments made by Elon Musk on the topic resurfaced as the Tesla CEO has long been an advocate for population growth and has 11 children himself.

However, their statements have been met with widespread criticism and accusations that the billionaires are simply seeking larger workforces and greater profits after Fortune reported on their remarks.

Elon Musk calls declining birth rates 'the biggest danger'

In 2022, SpaceX founder Elon Musk warned that declining birth rates are “the biggest danger civilization faces,” and will lead to a “population collapse,” as he talked about an “underpopulation crisis.” He called for people to have more children “to create the new generation” and prevent such a collapse.

Similarly, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said he would “love to see...a trillion humans living in the solar system,” envisioning giant space stations with rotational gravity that could house massive numbers of people.

With a larger spacefaring population, Bezos believes there would be “a thousand Mozarts and a thousand Einsteins” at any given time, greatly accelerating innovation and creativity.

Jeff Bezos wants humans to live predominantly in space while using Earth for vacation

Both billionaires see interplanetary colonization as crucial for humanity, with Musk advocating for a permanent human presence on Mars so that we become a “multi-planet species.” Bezos looks closer to home, pointing out the “advantages” of living in manufactured gravity habitats compared to planetary surfaces.

He foresees heavy industry moving off Earth to preserve our planet, envisioning a future where people live predominantly in space but vacation on Earth “the same way you might go to Yellowstone National Park.”

With their space companies, Bezos and Musk aim to build the infrastructure to enable the boundless growth they envision. Bezos said he wants to unleash “ingenuity and imagination” so thriving space enterprises can be started in a dorm room, just as he started Amazon, thanks to the pre-existing infrastructure of credit cards and mail delivery.

Internet erupts in outrage in response to Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos' visions

The visions of Musk and Bezos for an interstellar civilization with trillions of humans have been met mostly with criticism as people pointed out the housing crisis and income levels that exist today.

One user quipped, “A thousand Mozarts with nowhere to live, working as Amazon delivery drivers.” Another user expressed cynicism, stating, "They just want cheap labor."

A third critique slammed the two businessmen, declaring, "These 'captains of commerce' need to stay in their own lanes. A 'trillion humans' equals 'a thousand Mozarts' is one of the more asinine comments I've heard this century."

Meanwhile, a skeptic also remarked, "These two megalomaniacs just want more drones for their factories, warehouses, etc." Another person called the two out, writing, "Stupid fools have no idea about the resources that would take."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.