What do the eccentric visionary Elon Musk and the famous rapper Nick Cannon have in common?
Well, it’s not her fashion sense.
It was announced this week that Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis, an executive at one of Musk’s companies, welcomed twins into the world last year.
For Musk – these are his eighth and ninth living children with three different women. (Tragically, his first child died of cot death at the age of 10 weeks)
The billionaire apparently confirmed the news on Twitter by tweeting: “Doing my best to help the underpopulation crisis. A collapsing birth rate is by far the greatest danger facing civilization.’
“I hope you have big families and congratulations to those who already do,” he added.
Well, guess who answered?
None other than Mariah Carey’s ex-husband and serial sperm donor Nick Cannon, who has also proudly fathered multiple children with multiple women.
‘Right there with you my brother!’ Cannon tweeted.
Musk was quick to reply, “Congratulations on your family! We must expand the scope and scale of consciousness in order for civilization to thrive and understand the nature of the universe. Consciousness resides most strongly in people, that’s why we need more people!’
What the hell is going on here?
This might be the scariest tag team tweet thread in history.
I don’t care how many times Musk guts culture and wokeism.
I don’t care that he “allegedly” buys Twitter to save it from the bots and Thought Police, or colonizes Mars to save humanity.
That’s just weird.
If you look at the timeline of Musk’s children’s births, you’ll see that he had a son with singer Grimes in May 2020, then twins with Zilis in November 2021, and then a daughter via surrogate with Grimes in December 2021.
So apparently he had concurrent pregnancies.
Cannon fathered four babies within a year and then jokingly referred to his method of conception as “seahorses”.
(If you don’t know how a seahorse reproduces – google it)
This “impregnate the planet” mentality is creepy and seems more like the actions of a cult leader than an altruistic person who wants to expand their family and save the planet.
Elon is the richest man on the planet, he can certainly do what he wants, when he wants, how he wants by and large, but don’t think for a minute that ordinary Americans have anything to do with it at all.
As Americans try to figure out how to pay for gas and groceries, the average cost of a replacement can range from $90,000 to $130,000, depending on individual agreement.
Musk may have the resources to support three families, but most obviously don’t.
The billionaire seemingly confirmed the news on Twitter. Well, guess who answered? None other than Mariah Carey’s ex-husband and serial sperm donor Nick Cannon (right), who has also proudly fathered multiple children with multiple women.
Later on Friday, Musk tweeted again and hedged, albeit slightly:
“Children are worth it if at all possible. I plan to significantly increase childcare allowances at my companies…” he wrote.
Let’s get one thing straight – Musk is not a role model.
What he does with his sperm, surrogate mothers and staff is his choice.
Who to procreate with, how many children to have, and how you choose to start a family, if any, are arguably the most personal and life-changing decisions you can make.
At least it certainly was for me.
But don’t confuse Musk’s odd point of view with the very classic, conservative, family-friendly arguments about the need for a large family.
What it lacks is an emphasis on family unity.
Meaning – a baby mom, a marriage, with many children living under one roof.
Studies consistently show that children raised in two-parent households experience less poverty and incarceration, and generally receive better education, leading to a brighter future.
The yardstick for bringing new life into the world should not be “if at all possible”.
Musk had a son with singer Grimes (left) in May 2020, then twins with Zilis (right) in November 2021, and a daughter via surrogate with Grimes in December 2021
How about? If you have the ability to support another human being in a loving home, then you should have a child.
Finally, there is also a subtle shame factor in what Musk is saying.
That if we all don’t have as many children as our bodies are capable of, we’re not dealing with an existential crisis of population decline.
It all feels very impersonal, fatalistic and dystopian.
Either we act like emotionless rabbits and repopulate the planet, or we face terrible danger.
No one could deny the fact that Elon Musk is a genius, but geniuses don’t have the answers to all of life’s problems.
Especially geniuses who can afford to hire all the surrogates and childcare professionals in the world and for whom money will never be an issue.
The premise of his argument that we must have as many children as possible is flawed and unrealistic.
I remain skeptical of Musk and his intentions in general, as I am of anyone who claims he’s coming to save us.
In fact, he sounds more and more like some kind of false messiah every day.
Even his earth-shattering attempt to buy Twitter and save free speech looks more uncertain.
He’s an eccentric billionaire who lives a completely different life than we can imagine.
Yes, if you can and want to, have as many children as possible. But not because Elon Musk says so.