Elon Musk's plan to end the Ukraine war
Zelensky doesn't like it
Yesterday, Elon Musk decided to step into the world of politics and tried to come up with a plan to resolve the Ukrainian war.
He included a poll at the bottom of his suggestions which, to date, have elicited over 2.7 million votes. So far, 40.8% have agreed with his plan and 59.2% oppose it. According to some, including Musk, the result was very different until a huge bot attack hit the poll.
Elon said that his suggestions were likely to happen anyway, it’s just a question of how many people die before then. He also noted that nuclear war is a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome from this conflict.
Whilst to many, his suggestions seemed like a reasonable solution to a neutral observer, predictably he was instantly attacked for being pro-Russia.
In an instant it was forgotten that Musk had opened up Starlink to help the Ukrainian war effort (Some paid for by the US government but, according to Musk, $80 million provided by SpaceX). The response showed how polarised and intolerant debate on any topic is nowadays and how, by entering the middle ground, one leaves themselves open to attack from both sides.
Ukrainian diplomat, Adrij Melnyk, undiplomatically said “Fuck off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk”.
Tezla’s logo was rebranded with the Russian ‘Z’.
Even the President of Ukraine, Zelensky, managed to take time out of his diary to respond to Elon.
He asked which Elon Musk do you like more? One who supports Ukraine? or One who supports Russia?
This poll received a similar amount of votes at over 2.3 million. Predictably, 79.1% liked the Elon who supports Ukraine with 20.9% liking Russian supporting Elon.
Elon himself responded to Zelensky saying he still very much supports Ukraine but is convinced that massive escalation of the war will cause great harm to Ukraine and possibly the world.
After this, he asked a different question - should the people who live in the Donbas & Crimea decide whether they’re part of Russia or Ukraine? He suggested repeating the recent vote under the supervision of the UN or something similar. 2.3 million votes later and shockingly only 59% thought that they should. 41% of voters thought that the will of the people in those areas should not decide which country it belongs to.
Musk’s opinions are influenced by the fact that he believes that if Russia goes to full war mobilization, with greater than three times the population of Ukraine, the number of deaths will be devastating and victory for Ukraine unlikely.
The stats agree with him but nothing is certain in war. However, do Ukrainians want to continue fighting or would they prefer a peace deal? There were rumours back in April that a peace deal was being negotiated by Turkey but Boris Johnson was swiftly sent by the US on a surprise visit to tell Zelensky to carry on fighting, no matter what.
His recurring points about nuclear war are surely the most poignant. But do they have any basis? A direct attack against NATO is highly unlikely but are tactical nukes on the cards if Ukraine continue to push back further? Again, we have no way of knowing but one thing is certain, any type of nuclear attack is not good and exponentially increases the chance of it exacerbating into a full blown nuclear war, with neither side able to back down.
Ultimately, the majority of us can only speculate as to what is going on and what is the correct solution. However, as the past few years have shown, by stifling debate, massive unforeseen (and foreseen) consequences occur which cause massive harms. Elon should be allowed to voice his opinions, especially ones which many neutral observers are thinking anyway, and these should be debated in a civil manner. Shooting down sensible, middle ground opinions is stupid and being forced to see everything as black or white, dangerous.
What do you think about Elon’s peace plan? Do you think Ukraine wants to fight to the bitter end or are they being encouraged to continue by NATO? All civil debate is welcome below.
I’ll repeat the polls on this stack to see what commentators here think.
Asking whether one prefers a ' Ukraine Elon Musk' or a 'Russia Elon Musk' is distracting and nonsensical. Let's stick to the essentials of the situation.
I only didn't vote on whether Musk should support Ukraine or Russia. An ideal solution should benefit both sides and I think Zelenskyy's question is disingenuous. Musk being realistic and proposing peace doesn't mean he supports Russia.