Elon’s Salutegate

To Deny the Nazi Salute is to Deny a Master Troll His Due

Elon Musk threw a Nazi salute. I don’t particularly (or at all) care because I am not a moralfag and it is exclusively moralfags who were “triggered” by this on both the Left (to condemn) and the Right (to cope that it was actually a “Roman” salute or that he’s an autist who’s unaware of what a Sieg Heil is). But I will not engage in this absurd pantomime and pretend that Elon did not know what he was doing. He is smart, very online, and well acquainted with the Alt Right. Can any serious, self-respecting person genuinely think that a guy who is deep into 4chan culture, calls himself Kekius Maximus, constantly props individuals like “Peter Sweden” and “MartyrMade” with very specific views on aspects of 20C history, would make that particular gesture three times by accident in the space of a three minute speech (once per minute on average). No, Elon knew exactly what he was doing.

Personally, my interpretation from the start was that it was a Nazi salute in order to troll libs into saying it was a Nazi salute, with the aim of subsequently “owning” them for being hysterical. As it happens, this was entirely successful. The ADL, which otherwise sees anti-Semitism behind every shadow, rushed to cover for him, ascribing it to a “moment of enthusiasm” (or heated gamer moment?). Netanyahu, same guy who argued the Arabs put Hitler up to the Holocaust, also denied any connection. Russian TV censored it, LOL. Normies from Left and Right seethed at me, unable to grok how someone could acknowledge Elon's based Sieg Heil, while attaching no particular moralistic judgment to it. Is he a Nazi? Is he “anti-anti-Woke”? It was a “Roman” salute wah! Dude!?

No, you dumb seething retards. My only “agenda” is that I dislike and resent getting gaslighted. Sieg Heil Denial is the Right’s version of dindu nuffin, evoking the same repulsion as Wokes with their “mostly peaceful protests” (h/t Soledad). Obviously throwing a Sieg Heil is incomparably less bad than looting and burning under any sane moral compass, but again, that’s beside the point. It was a classical Hitler salute and I did not and will not disbelieve my lying eyes, and I would note at this point that Elon’s subsequent demonstrative trolling later got some people who were initially skeptical of my position to acknowledge that I was correct. Just a week later, a GOP politician was forced to resign after “copying Musk’s Nazi-ish gesture”. This conclusively demonstratives that you can Sieg Heil to your heart’s content if you’re sufficiently rich and prestigious like Elon, and even the ADL will go to bat for you, but if you’re just some chud normie loser then you will be canceled by your fellow GOP rightoids. So again, denying the Nazi salute is cringe, it is dishonest, and it is ultimately an insult to Elon Musk and his genuine mastery of trolling (unlike his fake gaming accomplishments).

But why would Elon do it? Honestly, as a consummate troll myself, I think I have better insight into this than most. First, to people with a certain disposition, trolling - fishing for a reaction, any reaction - is a joy, even an addiction. Like poking an antheap or beehive with a stick, it’s not so much that you expect the outcome will be good but it will be interesting. Second, there’s the sheer thrill of it, like having sex in a semi-public location it is the thrill of what happens if you are found out that magnifies the experience. Third, this kind of standard is replete in Alt Right-adjacent and “politically incorrect” cultures. The transgressive element makes it exciting and a kind of bonding experience. Violating a social taboo in front of an audience of 100Ms makes it extra thrilling. Would I be able to get away with it?? 🎲

Like I can fully imagine that on Elon was in some “based” group chat and amidst the jokes about rounding up the libs and upcoming Reichstag fires someone suggested, “Hey Elon you talk a big game but bet you’re too chicken to Sieg Heil up on that podium” and Elon replied “kys fagt” and Sieg Heiled three times just to own his interlocutor and have a swell time in the group chat afterward.

Is it childish? Puerile? Counter-productive? Perhaps it is, and one may make the argument that perhaps the extra backlash Elon has provoked amongst the shitlibs and Europoors who buy his Teslas and Starlinks might not be worth acting out an exhibitionistic stunt that would be most amusing amongst schoolkids. However, that is normie thinking, and Elon did not get to where he is by thinking and acting like a normie. I for one just sit back and quietly enjoy and appreciate a Lv. 80 troll at work and that should be your approach as well.

More interesting/relevant question: How based is Elon?

At least amongst my readers, there is a consensus that he is HBD/IQ-pilled, and 21% and 13% believe there is a substantial (>30%) chance that he opposes female suffrage and has doubts about the official version of the Holocaust, respectively. FWIW, my own assessment is about 95% for HBD/IQ realism (actually ~100% but that’s going off private sources), 50% on opposing 19A/women’s suffrage, and 10-20% on Holocaust revisionism. I am only based on HBD/IQ and eugenics so probably Musk is more, and perhaps a great deal more, based than me.