Sieg Heil or Stim? Elon Musk and the Uncomfortable Truth About Silence
Elon’s gesture sparked outrage—but the silence from our leaders speaks just as loud. What message does this silence send?
Last week, at a trump rally, Elon Musk raised his arm in a gesture which bore a striking resemblance to a seig heil. Not once, but twice. The world watched on, and the aftermath has been a wave of outrage and confusion.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting Elon Musk is a Nazi, and I am not comparing him to Hitler. However, it’s difficult to interpret that particular arm motion as anything other than a seig heil.
The main defence offered seems to be that it was an excited ‘Asperger’s’ Stim. Putting aside the fact the term ‘Asperger's’ is outdated and rooted in Nazi history, as an autistic man myself, I can confidently say I have never, and never will stim that particular gesture. Judging by the conversations on Bluesky under the #ActuallyAutistic hashtag, thousands of Autistic people feel the same.
However, what is just as troubling as Musk’s gesture, is the deafening silence from the UK's political leaders.
No one has spoken out about this. Why? My hunch would be that they fear Musk's influence, his wealth and backlash from alienating the right. But the silence is dangerous. At best, it sends a message to the underrepresented groups that their concerns are not a priority. At worst, it is a tacit acceptance of harmful behaviour, emboldening those that wish to spread hate and work against ideals of equality.
History is rich with examples of what happens when leaders fail to act in the face of troubling developments. In the 1930s many politicians stood by as the far-right rose to power in Germany, some of them even gave ground to try and appease them. More recently, the international community stood by as the Rwandan Genocide unfolded, only reacting when the sheer depths of the depravity became clear. Silence, inaction and complacency can bear heavy costs.
The moment calls for bold and principled leadership. Politicians must prioritise compassion over convenience, and justice over self-preservation. Marginalised groups are watching the United States with growing anxiety, wondering if the UK will follow suit. These communities deserve reassurance, and yet our leaders remain muted. Instead of showing bold, principled leadership, they are preoccupied with tending their own gardens.
This issue has significant implications for the tech industry. Musk, as the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is one of the most powerful men in the world. However, his actions and words all too often go unchecked. Set to a backdrop of tech companies who are scaling back diversity and inclusion initiatives, this incident sets a worrying precedent. Musk, and leaders like him, set the tone for their organisations and the wider industry. If they model harmful behaviour, we risk losing the nominal gains we have made in recent years.
The rot starts at the top. If those in power fail to demonstrate courage and accountability, how can we expect the people they lead to do any better? Politicians, tech leaders, and society must remember; we are who we pretend to be. I have to question, what kind of future are we pretending to create?