Dear Senator Sanders,
I am coming to you with the utmost respect. You are one of the few politicians out there who have had such a history with the civil rights movement. You advocate for social justice, empowering the people, and for equal rights for everyone. However, your attacks on Elon Musk, I believe, are misguided.
I debated on whether or not writing this would make any difference–would you consider reading this with an open heart or mind? Would you even see this? I debated because I feel that your mind is made up, but that spark light inside of me believes that I can reach that spark of light inside of you with my words.
I think it’s worth a shot.
I want to share with you some things about Elon Musk that you may have overlooked in your hasty reaction to just a few of his tweets. First, I will agree that Elon Musk, as with all of us, is a human being and therefore he is not “perfect.” But, Senator Sanders, Elon Musk is not the enemy you are making him out to be.
The hearts of many Americans are on fire; burning with hatred for one another over racial tensions, wearing a mask to protect others from Covid-19, and other societal injustices painted as political differences. As someone who was raised as a liberal by a mother who was the outcast in her conservative family, I am shocked by how hateful my fellow members of the left are toward people over labels. Billionaires included.
If you don’t know the story of Elon Musk, then I encourage you to take a moment and learn. This is a man who cried during a 60 Minutes interview because he was bound and determined not to ever give up on his dreams. In another 60 Minutes interview, he made a promise to help Australia upon learning that some of that country’s residents didn’t have access to electricity.
Elon’s Stance On Healthcare Vibes With Yours.
Elon believes that the government should take care of the critical needs of people such as healthcare, again, and defense and judiciary needs.
I am too, of sorts. Govt (ie other taxpayers) should take care of critical needs of people, incl defense, judiciary, health care, etc. Rest should be companies competing to provide best product or service to the people.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 17, 2018
Elon and Subsidies.
You say that Elon Musk has $4.9 billion in subsidies, but if you read this article, you will learn that compared to all of the other automakers, Tesla, not Elon Musk, has fewer subsidies in total.
Not to mention all the billions we payout to the fossil fuel industry every year–an industry that is killing not just Americans, but many around the world through its products that cause pollution. Where’s your anger in that regard?
Why Taxing Elon Musk $27.5B Won’t Help Solve Long Term Problems.
You want Elon Musk to pay the government $27.5 billion in taxes. I think the healthcare bill is one that is needed and I do think we should tax the rich higher than what our country has been doing, but to tell someone that they have to give up the money that they earned fair and square because of status isn’t right.
Millions are about to be homeless. Millions have lost their jobs and millions can’t afford to eat. Even if Elon Musk and all the other billionaires were to give up half of their wealth (or whatever percentages you deemed should be given up) how will this help? Sure, it would help those in need during the short term, but what is the plan for a full economic recovery?
Would this fund another stimulus payment–you know those multi-million dollar corporations that got most of the $2T that was given up last time? $2T divide by 33 million Americans should have given each American around $6,000. Instead, most of us received $1,200 while special interests got the rest. Special interests that Elon Musk said shouldn’t have gotten it and you responded to that by calling Elon Musk a hypocrite.
Yeah, would have been way better just to send everyone $6k
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2020
We have a major problem and honestly, Elon Musk isn’t the solution nor the cause of this problem. Pointing to people because of their wealth statuses and saying “Burn the witch!” isn’t going to solve the corruption that has been rooted in our government on both the Democratic and Republican sides for longer than I have been alive.
Final Thoughts
We have too much politicization and not enough acceptance. Everything from colors, names, wearing a mask–have all been turned into political weapons that one side uses to attack the other. Our country is slowly destroying itself with self-hatred and we need you, Bernie, and others to stop imposing these self-inflicted wounds on our nation.
America needs to rise out of the darkness it has fallen into–darkness filled with hateful rhetorics who see witches to be burnt in every corner just because someone disagrees on a topic. We need to learn to love one another again while learning to step back and remember that the other person is human.
Elon Musk, I believe that you and Senator Sanders can find a way to come together. Senator Sanders, please take a moment and not just research Elon’s stance on things, but reach out to him in a kind manner. Instead of vilifying him, ask him for help. Elon, you helped me when I was low. America is really low right now.
Y’all, millions of Americans are about to go through something I’ve been through several times in my life–but they are about to go through this all at once. Evictions are happening. I’ve been woken up by a police officer jabbing me with his baton just after I’d gotten off work and was trying to catch a nap before my next shift. I had two jobs then. For millions, there are no jobs.
5 million jobs, 30 million Americans unemployed. It’s going to get bad. Now, more than ever, we need love and compassion while we find solutions. Not divisive hatred for the other.