It wasn’t long ago that people adored billionaires and saw them as an inspiration to work harder for a better life; they were role models enjoying the media frenzy and fan club-like attention. But, recently, their status and personal lives have been under intense public scrutiny, especially as American politicians like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez have brought socialism “Tax the Rich” ideologies in modern mainstream consciousness in the U.S. In one interview, she even said, “No one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars.” It’s her way of calling out the billionaires of the capitalistic society and their unethical tax-avoiding ways while profiting off of their workers’ hard work and minimum, barely livable wage.
Suddenly, more people became aware of the capitalistic problems plaguing society, but America’s obsession with billionaires wouldn’t change overnight. Thus, the public’s divisive opinions about billionaires like Elon Musk. But, who is he, and how did he get to this point of being a well-loved and hated figure from the American billionaire club?
A Quick Look At Elon Musk’s Life
Billionaires, for some reason, are also enjoying a semi-celebrity status, and Elon Musk is proof of this trend. Of course, his rise to fame isn’t a breakout role in a movie or a TV series, but his companies and being one of the richest people in the world.
Elon Musk is half Canadian and South African — the former from his mother’s side and the latter from his father’s. Growing up, he wasn’t like most billionaires born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He had to work hard in Pretoria, the South African capital until he moved to Canada to study. After a couple of years, he moved to the U.S. and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he was able to earn a degree in Economics and Physics.
Elon Musk founded SpaceX not long after his graduation that his billionaire career and celebrity status started taking shape when he started several businesses and companies. SpaceX is a company meant to revolutionize space technology made him into a household name. His career eventually became bigger when he became the chairman, product architect, and CEO of Tesla Motors, Inc., later renamed Tesla, Inc.
Elon Musk’s Legacy… So Far
Tesla is promising as its mission and vision as a company is to help the world transition faster to using more sustainable energy with its electric cars where people’s Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Education Course and desire to save energy could be useful. So far, it looks like he’s doing the world a favor by using his power to help the planet become more sustainable, but his story doesn’t end there.
Unfortunately, while he is trying to help the world, he further gives billionaires a bad name and publicity. He has been known to bully anyone who criticizes his misuse of his wealth, fame, and status. During the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic, several studies showed that his wealth has increased to the point of Bernie Sanders calling it unsustainable and just greedy. He even used his platform to spread some fake news about Covid-19 and manipulate the prices of cryptocurrencies.
After a few scandals and controversies, he never stayed off the limelight. He even continued to enjoy it by fully immersing himself in the celebrity status after appearing in several films and TV shows like Rick & Morty, Iron Man 2, and The Simpsins. He has also surprisingly hosted a not-so-well-received episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL) due to him being the host.
Unfortunately, while Elon Musk’s charms still blind many people, no one can deny that the tweets, news, and criticisms against him are favorable. His recent split with alternative pop star Grimes gave the internet a new opportunity to make memes and mock their cringe-fest three-year relationship that bore a baby they originally named Æ A-12. Who in their right mind would name their kid that?
The End of the Billionaire Fandom
It seems it might take some time before anyone will forget what Elon Musk has put himself into during these past few years. The world will likely move on and forget about it, but the internet has immortalized his evil billionaire status, which he will go down in history as.
Hopefully, it will allow more people to wake up to the truth that most billionaires are people who exploited the working class and rigged the system to get to where they at. It’s definitely time to tax the rich, and maybe then Elon Musk could redeem himself a little.
