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by Railsify 1437 days ago
His family became wealthy during apartheid, they were beneficiaries of state sponsored racism, I'd say he is at least indifferent to it as long as he is not suffering any consequences.
1 comments

It's a logical leap to suggest that indirectly benefitting from something means one is indifferent to that thing. We're all beneficiaries of child labour in the third world; it doesn't mean we're all indifferent to it. Most of us at least disapprove.

Errol Musk claimed to the New York Times that he belonged to the anti-apartheid Progressive Party at the time. Elon Musk said in his biography that he did not want to partake in South Africa's mandatory military service because it would have forced him to participate in the apartheid regime.[1]

I understand that this an emotionally charged issue, and I would never expect the wider public to behave differently, but I'd at least expect this community to engage in more critical thinking -- to not make logical leaps, and to be honest about the facts at hand. We're not going to reverse the world's social progress because the nerds on Hacker News decided to pause for thought.

[1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/world/africa/elon-musk-so...

Passive civil disobedience and token statements don't count.
> Elon Musk said in his biography that he did not want to partake in South Africa's mandatory military service

The children of rich people deciding they don't want to participate in the draft isn't a moral stand. It's not a unique thing, nor a condemnation of the country.