The founder of Amazon, billionaire Jeff Bezos, recently announced that he, along with his brother Mark and two others, will launch into space in mid-July. They will fly aboard the New Shepard suborbital rocket system designed by Bezos’s space company, Blue Origin. The trip is expected to last only 11 minutes.
With a goal of 75,000 signatures, the petition titled “Do Not Allow Jeff Bezos to Return to Earth” has already garnered support from over 63,000 individuals. At the current pace, the petition may reach its target by mid-week or even sooner.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos. (Photo: AP Photo)
This petition, initiated by social media user Ric G, states: “Billionaires should not exist… on Earth or in space, but if they choose to go to space, they should stay there.”
Many comments left on the petition range from highlighting the low wages that Amazon employees receive to reiterating that Bezos, along with several other billionaires, should be permanently removed from the planet.
“Seriously, don’t come back.” commented one social media user, while another wrote: “If we can’t eat the rich, we can only hope that something on Mars will.”
However, this petition is not the only one calling for the same goal. A petition on Change.org titled “Petition to Prevent Jeff Bezos from Re-entering Earth” has also collected over 20,000 signatures, with a current target of reaching 25,000 signatures.
This initiative has received mixed reactions across social media, with some netizens supporting the move and others simply reacting to the social media push. However, some are not precisely impressed.
It is worth noting that Bezos is not the only billionaire looking to venture into space. Other celebrity efforts to reach space have been initiated by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, as well as billionaire Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, who also has the Virgin Galactic space program.
