Elon Musk has an ableism problem
TW: Ableism, Aspie supremacy
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world with a staggering net worth of $238 billion, has as much money as he does controversy and problematic behaviors. Though there's no shortage of criticism I could give, I'd like to focus on his ableist views, behaviors, and remarks.
Aspie Supremacy
Asperger's Syndrome was fairly commonly used in the 80s and 90s, but is no longer used for a multitude of reasons. Dr. Hans Asperger was an Austrian pediatrician who was credited for early research on autism and saved many children from the Nazi killings of disabled people.
When phrased like this, he sounds like a hero, right? But there's much more to it than that.
The Third Reich wanted to create a "superior" race made up of white, cisgender, heterosexual, and able bodied people. Dr. Asperger examined children in Vienna and determined if they were useful for the "superior race" or not. Disabled children who were autistic but had relatively low support needs and were intelligent were declared useful to society and spared extinction. He called them "little professors" for their intelligence, particularly in their special interests.
The children who were decided not to be useful enough, needed more support and accommodations, and not smart enough for his standards weren't spared. The children that were "too disabled" were sent to die.
Hans Asperger
Asperger's Syndrome is (rightfully) not used by the American Psychological Association (APA) now and hasn't been since 2013. Still, some people still insist that they're not autistic, but have Asperger's Syndrome. Though it's fine for people to personally value certain things, like academic abilities, Aspie supremacists take this to an extreme that begins to mirror Dr. Asperger's eugenic beliefs that only the Aspies are valuable, but the autistics aren't and it would be better for society to get rid of them.
Elongated Muskrat is probably the best example of a modern Aspie supremacist. He proudly announces his diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome and emphasizes his alleged superior intelligence to almost say, "I'm not one of those disabled people; I can contribute to society by being so innovative and smart!"
He also complains that not enough "smart" people reproduce and seems to be trying to remedy that by fathering 10 children. Autism has genetic links, so his hope is that his "superior intelligence" will be passed on to his children to create a "smarter" new generation and the "next step in evolution "… sound familiar?
Covid-19
Honestly I could have written an article about the many false and dangerous things Elite Machiavellian has reposted or said about the covid-19 pandemic. There are so many that I'll have to just list a few of the ones I could find:
Claimed there was excessive vaccination and
Claimed many people died from the vaccines and
Claimed many people had permanent damage from the vaccines, including himself, and
Said that it is was suspicious that covid-19 mutated a lot (that's what viruses do)
Claimed that zero young healthy adults died of covid-19 in Israel
Suggested that Dr. Fauci helped create the virus in a lab in Wuhan
Claimed that the cure and vaccines against covid-19 were worse than covid-19
Called the coronavirus panic "dumb"
Called covid-19 a "minor cold"
Reopened Tesla factories in defiance of lockdown orders for nonessential businesses
There are so, so many more.
Electric Magpie has a large following, has a lot of employees, and is excessively wealthy, so his statements unfortunately have a greater impact than your drunk uncle's ramblings - though they are the same. For instance, after he opened the California Tesla factories - which employed about 10,000 people across Alameda County - employees began testing positive for covid-19. From May to December 2020, 450 employees tested positive for covid-19.
Aside from sick employees, Evil Machine's amplification of conspiracy theories and inflammatory claims contributed to the distrust of mitigation efforts and hostility towards those who were trying to save lives. Covid-19 should be looked at as a mass disabling event in addition to a mass casualty event.
Long covid, organ damage, worsening of existing conditions, post viral syndrome, and other chronic conditions are possible following a covid-19 infection and can severely disable people. Furthermore, Eager Malefactor has helped to make the world less safe than it already was for disabled people - especially those who are immune compromised. As a result, disabled people (perhaps former employees who were infected after his defiant reopening) are forced to further isolate and for longer periods of time.
Because Empty Megalomaniac has worked to bust unions, I assume all of the affected employees were hit hard financially as well.
X or Formerly, Twitter
Citing his desires for "free speech", Ego Mercenary bought Twitter for $44 billion on October 27, 2022. He quickly made a lot of controversial changes, like laying off half of the employees, asking the remaining employees to commit to "hard-core work", making verified users pay, ban reversals, and what has been described on Tumblr as the Twitterpocalypse.
“Protect our wildlife before it's too late”
Following the layoffs, Haraldur Thorleifsson, logged into his computer to work, but was unable to. He had not been told he was laid off and hadn't received a response from Twitter/X for several days, so he tweeted (x-ed?) at Entitled Misanthrope to ask if he was still employed. Though his response was very ableist and just generally disgusting, there was a thick layer of embarrassing ignorance on Eager Malice's part.
Haraldur "Halli" Thorleifsson is a well-known Icelandic businessman that founded the company, Ueno, and later sold it to Twitter. He's disabled and has genetic muscular dystrophy and is a fellow wheelchair user, so Entitled Muskrat assumed that he was stupid, probably not actually working, and even lying about needing his accommodations! This would have been despicable in a private conversation, but was said via public tweets (×'s?) - a major breach of confidentiality!
But let's switch to a more recent change that hemorrhages money: rebranding Twitter to X. Part of this change involved removing the Twitter sign at their headquarters and replacing it with a bright LED X sign. Not only is it obnoxiously bright and faces apartments, but it also flashes!
Flash warning of the highest degree. I can occasionally tolerate flashing lights, but I was unable to watch the entire video. Even with my finger covering most of it, I still got a migraine!
Epic Machiavellian's new sign crosses the line into extreme danger and a major public health issue. He has placed a giant seizure trigger in a public area! There is no warning for the people living near it or there's no warning for pedestrians or drivers going in the radius of the lights, and he's successfully made it hazardous for photosensitive people to simply exist in its proximity.
It saddens and infuriates me that Evil Musk has been able to not only spread hatred, but endanger the lives of people unfortunate enough to come near his sign. It should be obvious by now that he's not an innovative genius seeking to improve the world, but a terrible businessman with eugenic beliefs and an insatiable thirst for wealth.
He doesn't want free speech, he wants enablers.
