Elon Musk is one of the business leaders I admire most.
With the U.S. elections approaching and Elon Musk putting his support behind Donald Trump, I wanted to understand why, especially since he was once more aligned with the Democratic Party.
His shift in political alliances is particularly interesting given that only a few years ago, his main concern was to alleviate climate change and that’s one of the reasons why he put most of his energy in creating Tesla.
For those who may not know, Elon Musk is the head of Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, and several other innovative companies. He is also the richest person in the world.
There are multiple factors that contributed to this shift to the right, so let’s unpack some of them.
It all started during the early days of COVID-19, when Musk became the world’s wealthiest person. Around that time, Senator Elizabeth Warren began attacking him for being a billionaire, labeling him the face of corporate greed. She blamed him for income inequality and accused him of not paying his fair share of taxes. Here is a clip of her criticizing Elon Musk when he bought Twitter.
Personally, I believe that if someone contributes enough value to the marketplace to become a billionaire, they should be celebrated. After all, in the process of amassing wealth, they’ve created products and services that people want to buy, they have also created millions of job, and billionaires have made American an economic, global powerhouse.
Instead of condemning billionaires, Warren and other politicians should be celebrating the fact that the U.S. allows creative, innovative, and risk-taking individuals to build wealth not only for themselves but for the broader economy.
Things escalated further during the Biden administration. Biden, who prides himself on being the “most pro-union president in history,” clashed with Elon Musk over his opposition to unions in Tesla factories. There was a notable incident in Detroit when Biden praised the CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra, for their work on electric vehicles, completely ignoring Tesla—even though Tesla commands 80% of the U.S. EV market. Biden consistently praised GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, as the leader of the EV revolution, despite Tesla’s clear dominance in the sector.
Here is a clip of Biden praising Mary Barra.
I don’t believe in unions, I believe that unions are harmful for the economy and I think that politicians should not pressure employers to accept unions in their shops. If employees are unhappy with their jobs or think they deserve better, they should seek other opportunities somewhere else or, better yet they should start their own businesses.
Another point of contention is the Democratic party’s support for DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives such as affirmative action. The Democratic party believes that blacks and other minorities should get some kind of preferential treatment for the sake of having a more diverse workplace. Elon Musk on the other hand prefers a meritocratic system and insist on doing his hiring based on merit, not on the color, race, or sexual orientation of a person.
I also believe it’s problematic to hire people based on their belonging to an underrepresented minority rather than on their merit.
The final issue that turned Elon Musk to the right was more personal, Elon Musk has a transgender daughter, a man who dresses as a woman. He claims that California’s liberal policies makes it too easy for a teenager change sex, and interestingly enough transgender people feel more aligned with the Democratic party. This issue turned Elon Musk more to the right.
Here is a clip of Elon Musk talking about losing his son to what he calls the “Woke Mind Virus.”
Similarly, I tend to believe that a man is a man, a woman is a woman, and that transgender people are people who have mental health problems.
In conclusion, while I’m not a huge fan of Donald Trump, I understand why Elon Musk felt compelled to align with him. In many ways, the Democratic Party pushed him to the right. He had no choice but to support Donald Trump.
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