What the F*CK is going on?
The past few weeks have been pure madness, frustration, and helplessness. Since the elections, I’ve been spending way too much time on Reddit and the news again. Too much for my own good. Hoping that justice will finally come, the justice I’ve been waiting for months. I sit apathetically in front of my smartphone, compulsively refreshing my feed in the hope of seeing that there’s still a bit of justice in the world. In vain. Instead, headline after headline, bombshell after bombshell, audacity after audacity. My mind, tired and broken, in disbelief about what is happening. That we are once again confronted with so much hate and injustice, and at the same time, no clear solutions are being presented, just hate speeches or politicians trying to keep their heads above water amidst all the chaos. Two people, in particular, have been a thorn in my side. As you can imagine, I’m talking about Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
It frustrates me to see how we are in the process of undoing 70 years of progress. For what? Power, commerce, and attention. The elections were yet another slap in the face, and even more so, the inauguration of Donald Trump. And Musk’s infamous Hitler salute.
Many call Elon Musk a genius. A genius who has supposedly built and revolutionized so many companies. What defines a genius? I can only say that, in my eyes, Musk is neither a genius nor a visionary. Yes, Tesla was groundbreaking in its time, and SpaceX is no less impressive with its reusable rockets, but this is not thanks to Elon Musk. The real geniuses are the engineers and architects working in Musk’s shadow. They are the ones who make things possible. Musk throws money at them and poses as if he invented and created it all. I see Musk as a fragile, insecure ego that does everything for attention, and when he doesn’t get it, he behaves like a small child. He provokes without having any idea of the impact the richest person in the world can have. Whether it’s buying Twitter to surround himself with yes-men under the guise of “freedom of speech” or sympathizing with the AfD, a far-right party that has been trying to gain power in Germany for over a decade. A party that has often spread anti-American slogans, only to bend over backward at the slightest acknowledgment from Musk and become a staunch America supporter. Without realizing that he’s just using them.
To me, a genius is someone who morally and intellectually wants the best for humanity and its progress. Someone who does not fuel hate and injustice for their own benefit but instead tries to help even the weakest. 1% of Elon Musk’s wealth could help so many people, but instead, he perpetuates old rhetoric and tries to destabilize governments. Essentially, he’s doing what Trump does—just … dumber. The image Elon tried to build for so many years starts to fade and people now realizing who he really is.
With Donald Trump, we all knew what to expect, which makes me even more disappointed in the American people. We didn’t have much else; we had Harris, a normal politician. She isn’t perfect, but at least she was a real politician with genuine views and plans. And yet, even though we knew what was coming, we chose Trump. A man who, like Musk, doesn’t care about other people and is only focused on his own benefit. A man who has no respect for other people or societies, who only serves his own interests, and who is currently building a dictatorship. A man who spreads lies to feed his narrative, with a following that never questions any of it. And as a result, women, queer people, “immigrants”, and non-white people will suffer the most.
However, there was also a lesson to be learned from the events of the past few months. What we can take away from this whole story is that we Europeans need to stay strong. Now, more than ever, we need to learn to stick together. I wish it were different, but this is our timeline now, and we have to live with it and try to make the best of it. Above all, we need to ensure that we, as Europeans, don’t tear each other down and aren’t torn down by others either.
Does history really have to repeat itself, or do we have the chance, in this age of information and enlightenment, to do something about it this time?
I’m depressed. Depressed and sad to have to watch how, in recent weeks and years, so much has been reinforced that we’ve been trying to fight against for so many decades. We could achieve so much if we worked together as humans. All the visions we’ve always had of the future—the progress, the prosperity, the utopias. All of it feels like it’s slipping away into a future over which we have no power or control. My desire for justice is so great that it almost hurts. And I hope that, as humans, we find a solution. Or maybe it’s simply in our nature to see each other as rivals, driven by greed at the expense of people and nature … I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m tired.
To my German readers:
With the current events, I ask you, please go vote on 23.02! I’m not here to tell you who to vote for, but take a close look at the election program of the party you choose. Remember, we’re all frustrated right now and uncertain about what’s ahead.
Don’t let propaganda consume you. Propaganda has nothing to do with solutions—it only fuels fear and creates division.
Photo by Stormseeker