By Willow (willowashmaple.sbs, formerly of willowashmaple.xyz)
March 12, 2025
Four years ago, things looked very different for Elon Musk.
In fact, I had a very good opinion of him. He was, to me, an example of how an autistic person could attain success through an unconventional career promoting out-of-the-box thinking. In a world in which 8 out of 10 autistic folks are either unemployed or severely underemployed, the public visibility of Elon Musk gave me hope.
In 2021, he was on a Saturday Night Live episode. He also went to space, being one of the three billionaires who went on space tourism that year, along with Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson.
Tesla was still a favorite among those who cared about climate change and carbon emissions. Many households were installing Tesla's solar panels and power banks.
When he posted silly Shiba Inu memes on Twitter (which he had not yet bought), the price of Dogecoin skyrocketed from a third of a penny to somewhere around 70 cents. There was something in Elon Musk that was likable: playful and borderline inappropriate at times, defying the ossified social norms and conventions, and often coming across as childlike and curious.
So much has changed between 2021 and 2025. Elon is now arguably one of the most powerful men on Earth who wields largely unchecked power over the United States government and policy. He also owns one of the still-major social networks, now rebranded "X." Yet, his popularity has fallen. He is vilified by half of the country and even more so abroad. The Tesla stock price is in freefall. Tesla owners, once part of a revered lifestyle brand with a devoted following, are now derided as drivers of a "Swasticar."
Part of me sees myself in Elon Musk. When Elon showed up at a presidential inauguration event, performing a "Roman salute" on stage, I remember how, as an elementary school kid, I used to do patently offensive things in public, maybe to watch other people's reactions (or perhaps I didn't even care for that; I did it just because it was seen as "wrong" by society).
And maybe, as a neurodivergent person, Elon simply wasn't used to working within the established bureaucracy of a government. He probably thinks that he has a "better idea" than following rules that he sees as nonsensical, and perhaps working with lots of people who have different ideas, opinions, and experiences is something he sees as a barrier and obstacle.
But the older I get, the more I understand that the world does not revolve around me, and pissing people off on purpose does not make me look "tough," let alone like a "revolutionary" or an "innovator."
One of the common stereotypes about autistic people is that they are utterly incapable of empathy. Elon recently tweeted that empathy is evil, seemingly confirming that stereotype. Only a couple of years ago, I thought I was incapable of empathy as well (and I've given up on myself on that). But science now knows that empathy still exists, only in different areas of the brain. So, empathy is felt very differently by autistic people as compared to how empathy works among neurotypical people.
In fact, as you read this, you see that I display empathy toward Elon Musk of all people.
How easy it is for anyone to fall from people's grace and goodwill! And even being the richest man on Earth with direct access to the White House does not make him immune from that.
The worst outcome would be that Elon Musk and his antics would contribute to an even worse prejudice toward neurodivergent people - and excuses among politicians to cut needed funding to help them (after all, why spend taxpayer money on autistic folks when the most famous among them is the richest man on Earth?). This is something I worry about a lot.
----
Copyright 2022-2025. Articles on this site may be used freely under the terms of the Cooperative Nonviolent Public License version 7 or the latest, whichever the newer (CNPL v7+). All other uses require the express permission of the author. See the contact page (on Gemini or WWW: willowashmaple.sbs/contact; on Gopher: gopher://willowashmaple.sbs:70/0/willowashmaple/contact) for email and other ways to get in touch.
----
return home
headlines
subscribe (rss)
tip jar
