Just one example. Similar remarks were made at https://lemm.ee/post/54155328/17905549 . I've noticed many other people arguing that Elon Musk is being slandered when people call him a Nazi because "you cannot speak for another person's intentions".
this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2025
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If your actions advance Nazi causes, if you buy a platform and alter it to prioritize Nazi voices, if you normalize Nazi imagery through public displays....and on and on...At some point, it doesn't matter what thoughts are rattling around in your brain. I'm sure Elon Musk has been warned countless times that his actions make him appear to be a Nazi. I don't give a shit if he has autism or some other psychological issue that makes him commit social faux paus. Someone with his level of wealth can afford any number of public relations people to tell him how his actions are being perceived. If you're an autistic billionaire and can't read the room, you can hire someone to follow you around and read the room for you.
The most charitable interpretation you can possibly make for Musk is that he's the world's greatest fool who just, by chance, just happens to repeatedly do Nazi shit. But really, if it looks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, it's a duck. How do you actually define a Nazi? Historical Nazism had many different thought currents within it. Some folks joined for the genocide, some people to advance their careers, some because they thought Hitler would make Germany great again. Unless they left writings documenting their thoughts, we can't know what was in the mind of any historical Nazi.
But ultimately it doesn't matter. Nazis are defined by their actions, not their intentions. If you repeatedly do Nazi shit, you are a Nazi. If someone tells you, "hey, your actions are pretty fucking Nazi-esque," and you don't take that as warning to immediately change gears? Yeah, you're definitely a Nazi. Someone who puts on the brown shirt and marches with the Nazis is themselves a Nazi, regardless of what comforting lies they tell themself.
The crucial difference between Musk and Nintendo is that Nintendo, upon being informed of the problem, immediately took swift and decisive action. They publicly apologized and worked to make such a mistake less likely in the future. Musk just keeps doubling down on his over Nazi tendencies.
However, realize that you're probably just arguing with people who are fascists themselves and arguing in bad faith. Nazis play word games like this, because they simply don't care about arguing truthfully. They will deny being Nazis though they know full well they are Nazis. Nazism is, above all else, built on a fundamental rejection of truth and honesty, and a belief that the only principle that truly matters is might makes right.