Many years ago I knew a guy, who I am reminded of with the Elon Musk news. This guy was apparently a pretty good software engineer, and people either liked him, or thought he was a creepy SOB. I knew the guy, but never thought much of him, good or bad. I did have many people come to me to complain about the guy, and several say he was a sweetheart. At times he would go off on abusive tantrums blaming people for his own issues. I was targeted by him like this once... But honestly I didn't care.
Fast forward several years, and his went missing. And no one noticed. For WEEKS, I mean, his boss and co-workers didn't notice. His family didn't. Eventually someone went around his house and found out his house cats had been eating him.
If EM didn't have vast amounts of cash, no one would pay attention to him. Just because he DOES, doesn't mean we have to.
Leave him to his cats, in your mind, and reality.
@JonKramer
I do not care about Musk. But history of man eaten by cats is terrifying. It's important to care about each other, even when somebody is mean.
@plenartowicz That guy made his choices. I feel many of his choices were driving by mental issues he failed to address. He made it impossible for people to care about him. This isn't the fault of others, or society.
In my opinion, it is a failure of society.
We (mostly as children or young adults) grow and learn from each other how to care about each other, and also about ourselves. We learn how to deal with our problems but also, as a society, we help other people deal with their problems.
If somebody is deaf, it's of course not our fault that we don't know sign language or don't offer personal assistance. Instead, we, as a society, provide opportunities, care about translators and subtitles, create schools, etc. Unconditionally.
But in the case of mental illnesses, it's always conditional. If you are neurodivergent, your childhood and adolescence are nightmares, and your socialization is a failure, nobody cares. You have to earn help. If you have depression, you have to earn help. If you have OCD, you have to earn help. If you are male, you have to earn 2 times more. If you are not physically attractive, you have to earn 2 times more.
@plenartowicz I understand you position, and even largely agree. However, I feel that individual rights and choice supersede or overwrite societies responsibility. We, as a society, can and SHOULD offer help. We should never demand people accept it.
