Maybe, maybe I'm misremembering but I think younger then millennial generations are more conservative now.
I heard an interesting point, that most younger people (like mid 20s) have had trump and things he says be part of a significant part of their lives. This is all normal
Many from Tech spoke up after WikiLeaks and during Arab Spring/Tahrir Square. Guess who is in charge over there today? Generals. Other option would have been religious loonies.
For the simple reason the military and religious people are better organized.
Tech is not an organized around anything. Its just a diverse bunch rowing in whatever directions the tools they are familiar with allow them too.
The "tech community" is used to label both the very liberal on average big tech employees and the PayPal Mafia/VC people who have very different politics. Lately the latter have been much louder.
This seems like a power move perfectly designed to humiliate anyone still attempting to be neutral. The mainstream media and even the ADL is being forced into a degrading charade where they can't call two full-throated nazi salutes what they obviously are.
The closest I've seen to calling this what it is is Rolling Stone pointing out that actual neo-Nazis are thrilled at having him speak directly to them[1].
I think you’re giving too much "credit" to Musk, as if he orchestrated this to shift the Overton window. Musk was recently criticized on Twitter for not prioritizing American workers (the H1B visa thing), and now he’s trying to signal to some of those people that he’s actually "on their side." In short, I believe this is all about Musk’s insecurities and his need for validation.
That said, if this is true, it puzzles me that he would focus only on the more radical individuals rather than making a broader, more inclusive gesture to Americans.
Way to equate people who want H-1B fraud reined in to nazis. Why would I a normal engineer who has bad experience working with infosys hacks be appreciative of a nazi salute?
I never said that. I don’t think they are all Nazis, although some are, while others are sympathetic or simply understand that Musk is moving in the right direction (in a way that doesn’t make him a Nazi because he’s just "joking"). Do I have to draw a Venn diagram of all possible cases? Have you seen replies to Musk lately? The people who criticized Musk—a particular subset of them—are the ones Musk was signaling to, in his own misguided way. Or maybe he was signaling to all of them, and this is how he thinks he can win them by throwing a bone.
There’s some kayfabe here. To his audience, or at least some of them, he can do this without being a Nazi, much like how Trump can promise to defend America abroad, but take back Panama or Greenland, or whatever (even though he says he doesn’t actually like or want war), or how Christian he is. It’s just theatrics in a certain direction. For those who care, it’s there; for others, it’s nothing, and they just rationalize it as some kind of performance, but still remain loyal.
My point is that this is how Musk thought he could win some people back, perhaps impulsively—not as a ploy to shift public perception or signal an incoming Fourth Reich.
This is obviously bad and it just stains Musk's increasingly poor reputation even more.
And restoring neo-nazi accounts, and retweeting neo-nazi content... Just search "Musk Nazi" on this very website (and notice how many threads are flagged like this one).
This is not an isolated move though. People he associates with (afd, farrage, meloni) revolve around nazism and fascism. Trump language as well is (mass deportation, invasion, attacks on the justice system, etc...).
This is just part of his political strategy.
My interpretation is that he sees any opinion that goes against his personal interests as a personal attacks and something he has to shut down to conduct his businesses which naturally leads towards this behaviour and the far right spheres.
I don't think this is a weird response to something that happened on twitter, this is just who he is.
It happened gradually. I realized that an 80 year old man that is that hateful even after life gave him miracle after miracle (god gave him everything), is just a bad force.
There is a foul wind in the air, and I finally accept it. I can smell it.
Normally I would flag an OP like this one, but in this case I will NOT, because the sight of one of the world's most well-known and successful entrepreneurs giving the Nazi salute in public at a presidential inauguration has left me in shock. Shock. If there is anyone close to Elon here on HN who could talk some sense into him, please do so.
This shocking video must be seen to be believed. To the moderators: please consider unflagging the OP.
Agreed. Keeping HN free of politics is the right thing to do 99% of the time, but this is significant.
I didn't believe it at first. I had to find the video, watch the whole thing a few times, look up what various Nazi salutes (1930s to modern) look like, before I was finally convinced, because it's too surreal.
I can't think of another explanation other than him being absolutely blasted on drugs, but in that case I can't imagine him giving even a semi-coherent speech. I'm also not familiar with a drug that makes you salute Hitler, but I hear there's some weird research chemicals around these days so who knows? /jk
BTW there are pictures going around of other politicians with their hands in the air, but if you look up the video/context they were not doing what Musk was doing. Musk snapped a classic Heil Hitler salute. If you watch the video it looks worse in context.
No chance. He is a public figure who has been doing PR for at least a decade. His actions might not produce the results he expected, and we can question his motives, but don’t tell me he didn’t know this would have consequences.
I am not deeply familiar with autism, but is this just an awkward way for someone who is autistic and awkward in social things, where they put their hand over their heart and salute someone (like is it within the range of things that could be explained by autism)? Or is it meant to be purposefully ambiguous to antagonize. I have to admit, looking at the actual video, it looks exactly like a Nazi salute. I doubt Elon is an actual Nazi or racist, but I also could see him doing something aggressive and childish to instigate his “enemies”.
EDIT: Why is this story flagged? This absolutely deserves discussion. Elon is a key figure in the tech industry and this administration is going to heavily impact everyone’s world - not just in some abstract political way but in a real way that finds it way to our professional worlds.
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[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 68.9 ms ] threadIt's probably a sick billionaire joke, but regardless it's disgusting.
It is certainly an interesting new phenomenon or development.
[1] https://jewishinsider.com/2025/01/anti-defamation-league-tru...
where on the internet can you even speak up right now? Or what can be done in person? people voted for this.
I heard an interesting point, that most younger people (like mid 20s) have had trump and things he says be part of a significant part of their lives. This is all normal
Many from Tech spoke up after WikiLeaks and during Arab Spring/Tahrir Square. Guess who is in charge over there today? Generals. Other option would have been religious loonies.
For the simple reason the military and religious people are better organized.
Tech is not an organized around anything. Its just a diverse bunch rowing in whatever directions the tools they are familiar with allow them too.
The closest I've seen to calling this what it is is Rolling Stone pointing out that actual neo-Nazis are thrilled at having him speak directly to them[1].
[1] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-mus...
That said, if this is true, it puzzles me that he would focus only on the more radical individuals rather than making a broader, more inclusive gesture to Americans.
There’s some kayfabe here. To his audience, or at least some of them, he can do this without being a Nazi, much like how Trump can promise to defend America abroad, but take back Panama or Greenland, or whatever (even though he says he doesn’t actually like or want war), or how Christian he is. It’s just theatrics in a certain direction. For those who care, it’s there; for others, it’s nothing, and they just rationalize it as some kind of performance, but still remain loyal.
My point is that this is how Musk thought he could win some people back, perhaps impulsively—not as a ploy to shift public perception or signal an incoming Fourth Reich.
This is obviously bad and it just stains Musk's increasingly poor reputation even more.
It's the inevitable result of you having politically triangulated things.
What I would believe is that Musk is a halfheartedly closeted nazi. Why? Because he literally gave full support to a German neo-Nazi party.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Me neither, but I’m not going to extend this discussion because you’re the second person strawmanning what I said.
We got here a day at a time. Don’t promote this guys shit ever again if you have any self respect.
Color me changed, I was wrong about this Trump thing. It’s all real, all of this happening.
Edit: Do not flag this post. Casual nazism, jingoism, corruption is too serious to say we are above discussing this.
There is a foul wind in the air, and I finally accept it. I can smell it.
This shocking video must be seen to be believed. To the moderators: please consider unflagging the OP.
I didn't believe it at first. I had to find the video, watch the whole thing a few times, look up what various Nazi salutes (1930s to modern) look like, before I was finally convinced, because it's too surreal.
I can't think of another explanation other than him being absolutely blasted on drugs, but in that case I can't imagine him giving even a semi-coherent speech. I'm also not familiar with a drug that makes you salute Hitler, but I hear there's some weird research chemicals around these days so who knows? /jk
BTW there are pictures going around of other politicians with their hands in the air, but if you look up the video/context they were not doing what Musk was doing. Musk snapped a classic Heil Hitler salute. If you watch the video it looks worse in context.
My perception is that Musk may be unaware of the possible consequences of his actions.
EDIT: Why is this story flagged? This absolutely deserves discussion. Elon is a key figure in the tech industry and this administration is going to heavily impact everyone’s world - not just in some abstract political way but in a real way that finds it way to our professional worlds.
For ever-living fuck no!
If Elon was a non-verbal, one could potentially give some grace.
But don't down play this man's clear Nazism.
You got the UD down, I'm waiting to see what the F will be.