Why Does the Left “Hate” Elon Musk?

Shouldn’t we love him for his clean energy drive and technological marvels?

Photo by nader saremi on Unsplash

I loved Elon Musk for so many years.

For his rockets, his desire to make science fiction a reality in so many ways, like power walls, solar roof tiles, hyperloop, Starlink, Tesla, and the long-term plan to colonize Mars.

If I had $270 billion, I’d probably spend it on getting humans into space as well.

I applaud free speech, but after Trump incited the insurrection I agreed that he deserved to be barred from social media. It’s one of the few times he has faced consequences for his actions and had to take responsibility for anything at all.

I don’t think Twitter is any better for being taken over by Musk, and I don’t think he had a real plan for it. I still have a profile, but most of the interaction I get is from pornbots and erroneous “community guidelines” notifications (usually because the pointed message of an obviously and humorously spoofed profile is being “flagged” as not being the real person, which I already know).

I don’t even think Elon’s dedication to free speech is real, because he isn’t dedicated to free speech that is critical of him, only free speech that supports his positions. It’s a complete double standard.

And it sounds exactly like Trump.

I would hope that all billionaires (and would-be billionaires) are not oversized children who surround themselves with sycophants and opportunists.

But I still love his rockets, and I sometimes make a point of watching launches from SpaceX, or any of the other billionaire space companies.

Honestly, I was impressed enough by the rockets just landing on the ground, or a barge, but being caught by the tower is another level.

I’m nervous about Elon Musk’s neuralink tech. I don’t want a forced Singularity like Star Trek’s Borg. Technology ought to be used for the benefit of humanity, not the profit of billionaires. Imagine the marketing potential of a billion people plugged into the same computer, ads popping up in their minds. That doesn’t sound like any kind of utopia to me.

My own dislike for Elon Musk has come as a result of his behaviour the past few years, and his sudden descent down the Republican rabbithole. He always seemed to tweet before thinking, to an extent, but his political changeroo came about after his first-born child came out as his daughter. Musk couldn’t handle that.

So I don’t find it odd at all that the Left dislikes him.

I would think that as a neurodivergent man he would have more empathy and understanding for his trans daughter.

I would think that as an immigrant he would have more empathy and understanding for the struggle of people wanting to find a better life for themselves and their families by moving to America.

I don’t believe the Left dislike him for being a neurodivergent immigrant who has done all that tech stuff and supported clean energy and so on. The Left dislike him because he turned Trumpist and “anti-woke”.

The Left dislike him because he propagates debunked conspiracy theories. He is circulating those false narratives about the Dominion voting machines, which might end up being a costly mistake for him. He is pushing every far-right facet of madness that has existed in the Trumpverse for the last ten years.

Personally, it breaks my heart that Elon Musk has turned into a right-wing nutjob, because for so many years I wanted him to succeed, to see him set up a thriving colony on Mars, to help lift people out of fossil fuel dependency, to have better access to knowledge and information. I thought these things would improve the world and humanity’s lot.

But if a Mars colony is filled with Trumpist conspiracy theorists, it can’t be successful in the long term, and I (sadly) want no part of it.

Thanks for reading!