Why Elon Musk Being Autistic Isn’t That Great For Autistic People
In case you hadn’t already heard: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla has proclaimed himself autistic on Saturday Night Live.
I have to agree with the author here about how problematic Musk is as a person, and the impact of his showboating. We in the autism community certainly can’t make Musk somehow not autistic. Kind of like how you don’t get to choose your family. But we certainly don’t have to welcome him. I honestly see no benefit at all to any of us from his announcement. He’s an awful human being who treats his employees like dirt. He has the money and influence to make life better for everyone, but he chooses to use it to send a car into space.
Personally, I see this announcement as just another disconnected out-of-touch ultra-rich person move to play for sympathy and humanity from the general public. Through the hard work of many other, far less privileged people, autism has become somewhat more mainstream. It’s begun to be more okay to identify publicly as autistic. Even, in some very questionable circles, trendy.
What better way to hop on the trend and pretend to be just like everyone else than to claim the identity? Y’know, now that others have suffered and slaved so that it’s safer to do so.
Avoiding Responsibility
Another point here is that Musk seems to be employing a very unacceptable mentality. Y’know, the “I have a condition and therefore I don’t need to take responsibility and you should automatically forgive me if I say or do something harmful” thing. This is a mentality I see occasionally in all sorts of conditions, from autism to mental illness. Sometimes it’s an overreaction to the feeling or reality of society telling us absolutely everything we do is wrong. Sometimes it’s simply that it’s easier to avoid responsibility so we don’t have to own up to our faults.
Regardless of the reason, it’s wrong. Society is wrong when it tells us we have to be what it wants us to be, rather than ourselves. Autistic people are people. We deserve to be ourselves and to thrive.
But everyone who responds to society’s demands with “screw you, I won’t take responsibility for anything” is also wrong. Just because we’re different from others doesn’t mean they have to drop everything for us. As we expect them to work to communicate with us, we have to do the same in return.
A Better Way
The correct path, in my opinion, is the one where both sides recognize that supporting differences and diversity is a necessary part of life. We all take responsibility for our actions, earnestly listen to and learn from each other.
The onus, or the greater share of this burden, though, falls on those with power. It doesn’t matter whether that’s money (such as Musk and Gates), or influence (politicians and leaders), or simply being the majority the systems are meant to serve (neurotypical people).
It often seems to me like power blinds, deafens, and makes idiots of those who have it. CEOs are notoriously horrible people. Rich people are almost invariably clueless about the worth of a dollar, and what it’s like to live from paycheck to paycheck. And like clockwork, priests and pastors seem to turn up violating the very rules they preach.
I guess Elon Musk and other rich white tech guys show us pretty clearly: autism isn’t the cure to the corruption of power.
realisticautistic 