TL;DR: Elon Musk’s awkward gesture at a rally sparked controversy, with some interpreting it as a Nazi salute. This event serves as a case study in how beliefs shape reality, with people’s interpretations influenced by their preconceived notions and emotional states. By understanding this phenomenon, individuals can align their focus with their desires and create a more empowered future, free from the limitations of fear-based beliefs.
Elon Musk is keeping the body politic guessing. He’s keeping others enraged and some others gleeful. People, generally, are going nuts about his latest gesture. Indeed, with Trump coming back into office, a lot of people are feeling really, really insecure. Meanwhile, the media are making advertising bank stoking fires of that insecurity.
Indeed, there’s no better time than now to see how powerful beliefs create reality. In seeing how powerful they’re playing out in current events, we as individuals can benefit from those examples. We can learn a thing or two, in other words.
How?
By using current events, which are reflections of our collective inner state, as tuning devices, thereby increasing our alignment to what it is we want. Doing that, we can actually become happier. Even while others are in emotional upheaval and with not a thing changing around us.
Let’s use what Elon Musk did last week as an example. Then let’s amplify our clarity and discover how a Nazi salute that was, wasn’t, then was again.
First a disclaimer and trigger warning
This post contains potentially offensive content. Whether you experience it that way depends on your beliefs. If you’re Jewish or progressive and sensitive about the long history of fascism in the world, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU STOP READING RIGHT NOW.
SERIOUSLY, NAVIGATE AWAY FROM THIS PAGE. If you continue reading, and you make disparaging comments in the comment section, you are, for sure, going to be blocked because you can not control yourself. And this work, this Positively Focused practice, requires an extraordinary measure of self control.
Second disclaimer: I don’t have a dog in the fight that is US politics. It doesn’t matter what happens in politics to me because I’m the creator of my reality, not politicians. So while I’m diving into this political moment, the moment itself, and politics in general, are of little interest to me other than as learning experiences.
So I’m totally indifferent about what Elon Musk did. Ironically, because of that, I enjoy a broad perspective from which to understand what happened. What happened and why it happened. So, with the disclaimer down, let’s dive in.
So what happened?
At a rally following the Trump inauguration, Elon Musk took the stage. With great emotion, he expressed how important the past election was. Then he profusely thanked the audience for what he believes was doing the right thing: electing Trump. His thanks took the form of saying “I give my heart to you!”
Either right as or shortly after saying those words, he made a somewhat awkward gesture. With his right hand, he thumped his chest over his heart, then threw his hand outward, extending his right arm completely straight and upward. Immediately after, parts of the world went apoplectic.
The Southern Poverty Law Center said the gesture set off a “firestorm of controversy.” Meanwhile many US Politicians heavily criticized Musk for giving what they described as a “Nazi salute”. Also, according to the Associated Press, many right wing groups embraced the gesture, interpreting it similarly. Austria and Germany both called for banning Musk. And, of course, social media is equally ablaze with apoplectic opinions about Musk’s act.
Musk himself basically responded by saying “guys, give it a break.”
When a client sent me a cartoon depicting the act, it intrigued me. That’s because, as I wrote above in my disclaimer, I’m indifferent to politics. But I had a sense this event might offer a window into how people’s beliefs literally run them. That’s why I took interest.
What I found interesting was, the more I dove into this affair, the more empowered I became about what I know.
Momentum and Nazis
The first thing I did was go watch the original footage. Watching it perplexed me. I know what a Nazi salute looks like and what Musk did was not that. It didn’t surprise me that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an antisemitism watchdog group, agreed. Referring to the gesture, the group said Musk didn’t make a Nazi salute. Rather he “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm”.
That’s what I saw.
It’s widely known that Musk is on the spectrum. He’s an awkward person. And he often appears uncomfortable in ordinary situations. Being on stage isn’t “ordinary” and I’m sure, for Musk, emotional expressions aren’t either. So what I saw in the gesture was an awkward guy expressing deep relief and thanking his audience in an equally awkward way.
That’s all.
But it doesn’t surprise me that people, especially politicians, went crazy over all this. Think about it. The left has been building up a lot of fear about Trump returning to the White House. Left-leaning, biased media has been doing the same. Individual progressives did the same thing too. Through social media they’ve enrolled a lot of people into the momentum of their trepidation. Their disgust with Trump includes expectations that his authoritarian speech defines the new president as a fascist. Maybe even a Nazi.
Consider all this focus has been underway since Trump’s last term. When a person focuses on something for a long time, that focus creates momentum. Get enough of that going and it will keep going on its own. Before long, that momentum will turn into physical reality. That reality will then prove “true” thoughts and beliefs that person focused on. Then the thoughts and beliefs will no longer be thoughts and beliefs. They’ll be the “Truth”.
Willing stooges
When that happens, hardly anything will change that person’s mind about what they believe. What’s more, that person will see everything through the lens of that truth.
So when Musk joined Trump during election season, everyone thinking Trump was a fascist lumped Musk in to that category. As Trump continued with his authoritarian speech, people’s truths were further confirmed. When Trump won, the emotional upheaval among liberals caused those same people to double down on their truths. Truths mainly based on fear-filled future expectations.
When Musk then got on stage and made his awkward gesture, of course liberals, many Jews, Holocaust rememberers, and more would interpret that gesture through their collective memory.
The problem is, a rich and well-documented history supports exactly what a Nazi salute is and what it isn’t. And Musk’s gesture fails the test of history. Furthermore, if some people had an ounce of self-control and reasoning capability they would have seen the difference between Musk’s gesture and a Nazi salute.
Instead, many people live their lives through their emotions. That’s not a good thing. Because when a person lives their lives through emotions, they give a lot of their power away. In other words, they become willing stooges for manipulators. And that’s what we’re seeing with the large number of biased media outlets.
Those outlets make a LOT of money off out-of-control people living through their emotions by triggering those people and keeping their attention on everything going wrong. It doesn’t matter if it’s ACAB, BLM or MAGA.
Here’s the thing: You don’t have to be one of those people!
Your next four years…
If you allow yourself to become one of those people, however, woe unto you. You’re limiting your future.
Allow yourself the empowerment that’s naturally yours, however, and you make your future unlimited. Indeed, the only limits an empowered person puts on the future are those limits which shape a future of their desires, thereby leaving everything else out.
In other words, an empowered person limits their now to include only those things that match what they want to see in the future. By “now” I’m including thoughts and beliefs they think, as well as things they share with others, whether through social media, or through their speech.
We can’t help but limit our future. That’s because our focus, the ability to put our attention in certain places, is only so broad. So whenever we focus, by definition, we’re placing limits. And when we do that, we allow into our experience only those things matching our focus.
That’s why those thinking Trump is a fascist and so is Musk saw only what they saw: a Nazi salute. But it wasn’t a Nazi salute, unless you think it was.
And if you do, well, you’re in for a very uncomfortable four years.
Meanwhile, for others, the next four years are going to be positively astounding. Want to know how? Consider joining this event I’ve planned for March. Have a MeetUp account? Go here.