The Rocket Man
A hero is someone who is idolized or respected for doing the right thing, and for doing the things no one else is willing to do. These heroes have various traits that people look for in themselves, including: selflessness, generosity, commitment, integrity, and innovative thinking. They are the people that help society move forwards, and are the role models for everyone else to look up to and follow.
The Man Himselfhttps://www.norad.mil/Images/igphoto/2002117234/ One of these heroes was once a young boy who was “bullied at school” for “standing up for others.” This same boy grew up to become one of the most influential billionaires of his day. He grew up in a small town in South Africa, in a divorced family. He was the quiet sibling in the family, and was known to his parents as a hard worker. As he grew up he moved to Canada for a better education and later moved to the USA to start his first business. He did this so he could come closer to accomplishing all of his goals. As the years went on, more and more of his dreams took off, sometimes quite literally. This origin story belongs to Elon Musk. As the public got more interested in him, they wanted to know more about this man and how he got there. Because of his generosity, his commitment to his work, and his innovative thinking, Elon Musk should globally be considered a modern day hero.
Musk shows his generosity through his actions with his money and his business actions. Musk joined a charity that sends most of his money to help other people in need, “a commitment by the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy rather than bestow their fortunes to future generations in their own family” (“Inside Elon Musk's Humanitarian Efforts”). His selflessness is seen from his actions with his money and how he would donate the majority of it for the welfare of others instead of keeping it for himself for his own recreational use. This makes him a hero, and someone that people look up to, because this inspires people to follow suit and help out in their own way. This is because they are inspired to follow in the footsteps of their role model, and they want to have a similar positive impact on society. His generosity shows people that he is willing to put aside his personal needs in order to help other people move forwards. His generosity is also portrayed through his actions to solve the Australian energy crisis in “100 days or it is free of charge” (Ong, Thuy). He selflessly put aside all of the work he was doing for his companies to go to Australia and build the a new, cheaper, clean energy source. Doing so, he continued on his quest to spread clean energy via solar, air, and Tesla batteries. He continues to spread this technology across the world, and advance the global technology standard with his modern day marvels. This makes him a role model for because it inspires people to put down their own work and help those who are in need. Overall, Elon Musk shows his generosity in many ways, and these acts make him a hero.
Power Being Restoredhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/number7cloud/25804139927 Another heroic trait he possesses is his commitment to his work, which he portrays through his work ethic and the time he invests in his businesses. After a hurricane wiped out power in Puerto Rico, Musk stepped up to take advantage of the situation and not only gave the residents their power back but this time in the form of clean energy. “Tesla began sending hundreds of Powerwall battery systems that can be paired with solar panels to the devastated island in an effort to restore electric power there and the shipments of Powerwall battery systems are continuing” (Inside Elon Musk's Humanitarian Efforts). The installations ended up costing Tesla, which was created and is currently run by Musk, over $250,000 in assets, and lots of hard labor to get the job done in time. His commitment to accomplishing his goal of spreading clean energy usage, while helping people in need, is seen in this action because he managed to restore the power to most of Puerto Rico and save all of the citizens from their loss, while spreading his product. Musk's commitment is an important characteristic of his that makes him a hero because it shows how he will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals. Elon Musk's commitment can also be seen from the 17 years and “$100 million out of his pocket” he has invested in SpaceX (Ong, Thuy). This shows how he is willing to put in as much time as needed to push his dreams forwards and does not care if he is at any personal loss, as long as his goals succeed. This adds on to the public view of his commitment, and makes him an even better recognized hero. Overall, the commitment that Musk shows makes him a hero because it shows that he won’t give up and will always keep trying to find a solution to help others.
Falcon Heavy Launchhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy His innovative thinking is also one of his heroic traits. He demonstrates this through his new, cutting-edge inventions that help society move forwards. In his interview with the Wall Street Journal, Elon said, “I want SpaceX to help life become multiplanetary, and build a self sustaining base on Mars” (Elon Musk: I'll Put a Man on Mars in 10 Years, 13:15-14:41). This has never been done before and Elon is pushing forward the entire space exploration industry, giving humanity new insight on what lies beyond. This innovative thinking makes him a hero because he is helping humanity expand its reach further than before. He also uses his innovative thinking to create new solutions to large-scale problems. Australian cities lost power for several weeks, and even when it did return, it came at a very steep price. Elon Musk stepped in and offered to solve the crisis “in under 100 days or its free” (Ong, Thuy). He created new Tesla batteries for them, and built wind turbine farms; these new creations helped solve the problem in a large area. Musk’s innovations to the Australian power industry shows his heroism because of the fact that he put aside his own work for his companies, to come down and build something new to solve the problem. Overall, Elon Musk’s innovations make him a hero because he creates solutions to help others, which is a heroic trait.
Some people may disagree with Musks heroism and integrity, and think he is a bad influence because a few minor potholes he ran into on his journey to success. This is because of one of Elon's tweets regarding Tesla's funding. The tweet caused some confusion among investors and the secretaries, and the exchange commission stepped in. They sued Musk and forced him to step down from the position of CEO, while still retaining the position of chairman. This may cause some people to turn their heads away and disregard his prior accomplishments. But Musk himself said that he always tried to give people the most accurate information he could and speak with integrity. This is a good characteristic for heroes because it makes them more trustworthy, and appeals to the people. He learned from his mistake of speaking before confirmation and became an even stronger and more experienced individual.
For these reasons as well as many more, Elon Musk is a modern-day hero. His generosity with his money and his assets, his commitment to his work and helping others, and his innovative creations that help humanity move forwards are all characteristics that make him a hero. His story of how he had a troubled youth, and had to had to work very hard to get to where he is today, is an inspiration to tomorrow's future entrepreneurs and innovators. His pursuit of accomplishing his goals and pushing our technology assets forward greatly inspired me and made me view him as a hero. He has inspired me and many others to follow suit and try our best to accomplish our goals and have a positive impact on the world. He specifically appealed to me because I also want to be able to invent something that will help the world become a better place one day. Elon Musk should be globally acknowledged as a hero, and be rewarded for his service to our humanity. He may not be wearing a cape, but he still is one of the greatest heroes of his time.
Works Cited
Easto, Jessica. Rocket Man: Elon Musk in His Own Words. B2 Books, an Agate Imprint, 2017. Journal, Wall Street.
“Elon Musk: I'll Put a Man on Mars in 10 Years.” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Dec. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiPJsI8pl8Q.
“Inside Elon Musk's Humanitarian Efforts.” BORGEN, 14 Mar. 2018, www.borgenmagazine.com/elon-musks-humanitarian-efforts/.
Ong, Thuy. “Elon Musk's Giant Battery Is Now Delivering Power to South Australia.” The Verge, The Verge, 1Dec. 2017, www.theverge.com/2017/12/1/16723186/elon-musk-battery-launched-south-australia.
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Page created on 6/4/2019 1:51:24 AM
Last edited 6/5/2019 4:20:30 AM
