The Psychology Behind the Tesla Attacks: Just Look to History

By Armando Simón

Many have noted the irony of the fact that for years Musk and Tesla were sanctified by leftists because they advocated electric cars and Musk delivered in spades yet, now that same Musk is demonized and the Teslas are being vandalized by those very same leftists. It makes about as much sense as those leftists who one moment support Hamas and shout anti-Israel, anti-Semitic slogans in American universities and the next call their opponents Nazis.

Although this kind of behavior may seem absurd—and it is—and hypocritical—it is not—the basis for understanding the mentality involved is by realizing that it is a product of fanaticism, and, as I have shouted in print for far too long, we are in the midst of a massive totalitarian movement. Having come from a Communist country, and having studied the history of totalitarian regimes, it is evident that there are certain traits that are common to all such movements. And these traits are painfully evident in the United States, the UK, Ireland, Canada. These are: censorship, insistence on conformity, fraudulent elections, indoctrination of ideology in schools and the military, bizarre demonization and persecution of dissenters, attacks on religion, the presence of a paramilitary group engaging in violence while police do not interfere, the politicization of every aspect of society, the suppression of comedy, the exultation of mediocrity, lawfare, the mutilation of literature, art and science. I am not the only person from a Communist country that has pointed this out; many former residents of North Korea, Vietnam, China, Russia, Cuba, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary and Romania have said the very same thing (what is puzzling is why conservative outlets have pretty much ignored them, giving them minimal publicity instead of giving them a broad platform, as they should be).

The psychology of the true believers is truly fascinating. One may be outraged at some of their antics, but at the same time, from a psychological standpoint, their reasoning is fascinating. In regards to the volte face involving Tesla, we see instances of this in the past. The earliest in the French Revolution, from where all modern totalitarian manifestations originated. Legislators of the French Revolution were initially of one mind, but then one group of individuals became bloodthirsty psychotics (the Jacobins) and turned on the lesser vicious Girondists and wiped them out. After the Bolshevik Revolution, previously worshipped leaders of the revolution (Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, and many others) were demonized and eliminated, usually after bizarre show trials. The Khmer Rouge carried out a bloodbath among, not just the common people, but against members of the revolution.

In present times, we have seen many such instances. The best known involves J. K. Rowling who was earlier praised for inserting a homosexual character in her novels become the target of hysterical true believers (and they always seem to be hysterical) for opposing transgender “women” in women’s jails, sports, etc. Other well-known individuals who have experienced this is Bill Maher, Russell Brand, RFK Jr. and John Stoessel.

The center of the totalitarian movement in America is the Democratic Party.

Armando Simón is a retired psychologist and historian and the author of When Evolution Stops.