Owner of X, Tesla, and SpaceX, the words “genius” and “politician” are words the right-leaning media likes to use to describe Elon Musk. However, the words they’re missing are narcissistic and problematic.
Musk is a 53-year-old white man from South Africa. He was able to get Canadian citizenship through his mother Maye Musk at the age of 17; he also earned the privilege of missing mandatory military participation for South Africa. Two years later, Musk went to the College of Ontario and Stanford. In 2002, he created Tesla, an electric car company that “Drives the Future.”
Musk is undoubtedly a successful businessman, with his several business ventures being beyond successful, but logically there is no such thing as an “ethical billionaire.” His company, Tesla, has gotten into several scandals, especially regarding unethical working practices. According to incident reports obtained by “The Guardian,” “Ambulances have been called over 100 times since 2014 for factory workers experiencing fainting spells, dizziness, seizures, abnormal breathing and chest pains. And, reportedly, hundreds more were called for injuries and other medical issues.”
Not only were the working conditions a complete nightmare, but there have been several reports of extreme racism. According to an investigation article by “The NationTesla,” an ex-employee of Tesla experienced racist and intense remarks “written on the bathroom walls alongside the N-word and ‘KKK.’”
This is one of several instances where Musk has been accused of extreme racism within the company. Recently, a Tesla elevator repairman, Owne Diaz settled a racism discrimination lawsuit against Tesla that awarded him 3.2 million in damages.
Musk’s political beliefs are also concerning. He has done some extremely questionable things regarding how he handles himself and voices his opinions. Recently, Musk did a hand-straight gesture during President Donald Trump’s inauguration, a gesture used when Nazis were in control over Germany during World War II.
There has been debate about whether or not Musk meant to do the gesture, but his posts on X tell a different story. When visiting Auschwitz, a historical Nazi concentration camp, Musk claimed that he is “Jewish by association” which is concerning as he seems to find joy in disrespecting small minorities. When Musk was confronted about the gesture he made, he laughed it off and accused people of being “radical leftists” who couldn’t take a joke.
Musk’s narcissistic behavior and tyranny over the internet have been prevalent for years before his unelected position in the United States Government. Its roots originate from childhood growing up in apartheid South Africa as the descendent of a wealthy emerald mining operation. Growing up in this space planted the idea of inconsideration for others who were less fortunate, and this ideology greatly affected him in the future.
Now, as the CEO of various companies, he greatly influences the general public. In partnership with Trump, Musk is pushing his policies of hate upon the US, thus creating rising emotions of fear, uncertainty and concern for the future of our country.
Three Ida B. Wells High School teachers provided a new perspective on the matter: Max Trezise, an IBW history teacher, Noah Shemer, a member of the Jewish community and a math teacher at IBW and Brady Bennon, a history teacher teaching.
“Because this is Trump’s second term it feels like now he’s less concerned with how people will think or how controversial his statements are gonna be, he has control of Congress so there’s objectively no one holding him back from doing what he wants including having Elon advise him on Government efficiency, which, last I checked Tesla hasn’t released a new car in four years even though they’ve promised it, to me that’s not efficient at all,” said Trezise. “Elon Musk and Trump are a part of that 1% with the hammer to shatter the fragility of Democracy, unaware of the hard-working people of America. It’s very scary.”
Shemer added to this point, saying, “I doubt he even cares about anyone else including the Jewish people and in that, I think it’s scary.”
Finally, Bennon recounted the ridiculousness of Musk’s position as a subtle justification for the previous points. “Here’s somebody who is not elected, appointed, or confirmed by Congress, who has access to essentially undo the financial progress of Congress by dismantling the agencies, that Congress has stated were important to accomplish our goals. Single-handedly he dismantled those agencies as someone who has no authority to do so, wasn’t elected to do so [and] was not able to be held accountable by the people which is dangerous.”
Shemer expressed his opinions on his gesture during Trump’s inauguration.“I mean it was definitely shocking but at the same time I wasn’t surprised he was anti-semitic,” he said.
According to BBC and Futurism (a tech-based journalism media outlet), Marko Elez, a 25-year-old Twitter employee quit after The Wall Street Journal linked him to racist tweets, supporting a “eugenics-based immigration policy” and said obscenities such as “I was racist before it was cool,” “Normalize Indian Hate” and “you’d have to pay me to marry outside of my race.” However, not only did Musk rehire the staffer, and give him the same position knowing full well what the history of his employee was, but was also upset that Elez had to quit. On top of that, after the Wall Street Journalist called him out, Musk requested that the journalist be fired for their actions, tweeting “She should be fired immediately” and calling her a “disgusting and cruel person.”
To end Musk’s slew of public distortions, last summer Vivian Jenna Wilson, a transgender woman and daughter of Musk had an interview with NBC, after Musk’s troubling comments in a Daily Wire interview saying “he was essentially killed in my eyes after he had been affected by the woke mind virus.” This transphobia is just the tip of the iceberg.
Shemer expressed concern about the ban on HIV treatment, saying, “In the community, there is HIV treatment out there and almost all of them are free so if people do have HIV they can get medicine for free and they do testing for free and he wants to stop all that.”
HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases have disproportionately affected those in the LGBTQ+ and African-American communities for years. According to WIRED, under Musk’s reign, as the head of DOGE, he in partnership with Donald Trump, plans to ban the US Agency for International Development (USAID.)
The USAID started in the early 1960s covered and promised extended assistance for countries allied with the US. This assistance includes recovering from disasters and poverty, but it also serves as an HIV/AIDS relief program promising free treatment for those who are living with these diseases. In the time that the program has been implemented, USAID has helped raise billions of dollars for HIV treatment and saved four million children and 200,000 women recovering from poverty and disasters.
Though Musk can be praised for many things, his actions and political statements should be kept in check. The accusations of racism, homophobia and antisemitism should be taken very seriously as Musk is a person with high power and will only be gaining more during the Trump administration. His actions should not be taken lightly, as they are not only hateful but dangerous. It’s important to remember that just because someone is successful, doesn’t mean that they should be put on a pedestal and constantly praised.
