Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been named Time’s 2021 Person of the Year. It should come as no surprise that Democrats and the woke left are enraged that Musk, the wealthiest person on earth, has been granted this accolade. His non-progressive views on COVID-19, unions, and taxes regularly draw their scathing criticism. But in this era of intolerance, deviation from the party-line can not go unanswered.
Warren’s Twitter Fingers
Elizabeth Warren (Getty Images)
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was infuriated with Time’s selection. Last year, her political allies President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were selected as Co-Persons for 2020 while healthcare workers, who risked their own lives while saving others, were also-rans.
Warren believes, along with a multitude of other politicians, Musk does not pay enough in taxes on his $300 billion wealth. She took to Twitter following the announcement to share her dissatisfaction: “Let’s change the rigged tax code so the Person of the Year will actually pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else.”
Musk himself rarely shies away from a Twitter brawl, and this time was no different. In a response that set the digital behemoth ablaze, he wrote:
"And if you opened your eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year."
"Don’t spend it all at once … oh wait you did already."
As a final sign-off, he implored Warren, "Please don’t call the manager on me, Senator Karen."
Musk paid small tax rates in comparison to the significant increase in his wealth from 2014 to 2020. However, he didn’t evade or break any laws in the process. Criticism of Musk and his tax payments are less about him and more related to what he represents: issues with the U.S. tax system.
POY Alternatives
Trending on social media is the hashtag #POYfixedit. Representative Colin Allred (D-TX) jumped in on offering alternatives to Musk, sharing a photo of Eugene Goodman. To Allred, “Officer Goodman and everyone who saved American democracy this year is my #personoftheyear,” he shared. Goodman is a Capitol police officer who was on duty at the Jan. 6 riot.
https://twitter.com/ColinAllredTX/status/1470430723370893313?s=20
Contributions to Society
Time magazine emphasized that its POY selection is not an award but a “recognition of the person who had the most influence on the events of the year, for good or for ill.” Elon is not just a CEO, a brainiac, and a super-rich dude; he is also a philanthropist. His astronomical wealth is not being hoarded. He donated to Dave Portnoy’s Barstool Fund during the pandemic to save small businesses. As Liberty Nation reported last month, Musk told the United Nations he would give the organization $6 billion, the golden number it determined would end world hunger, only if it would lay out “exactly how” the money would be used to accomplish the feat. In the first four months of 2021, Musk spent $150 million on charity.
Driving Innovation
The Person of the Year “is a marker of influence,” according to Time’s editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal. In 2021, Musk’s SpaceX, which has saved NASA hundreds of millions of dollars according to a recent study, stretched human knowledge beyond earth. In a mission to make other planets habitable in case we are unable to save our own, Musk has offered an alternative future. Whether you believe in the need to populate another planet or not, Musk has, not only in SpaceX but in other ventures, expanded Americans’ imagination of the future.
Musk has also assisted in the legitimization and growth of cryptocurrency while he has the power to influence the stock market with a single tweet. He also spoke against the tide of the COVID shutdowns, trying to keep his operations afloat and his employees at work. When the vaccines came out, Musk opted to get vaccinated but consistently defended his stance that, in the United States, no one should be forced to get the vaccine.
Tesla is the world’s most valuable car company, the symbol for the electric vehicle industry, that has accelerated cleaner energy use in transportation. The Democratic Party advocates for climate-change policies, which includes moving away from reliance on gasoline and toward cleaner energy. Without Musk, the EV industry would not be as advanced as it is now. Why would a Democrat complain about the man behind that?
~ Read more from Keelin Ferris.
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