If You Ask Me: Bullies Need Calling Out

Bullying is vile and its toxic threads can spread far and wide. If you witness bullying, do something – intervene and call it out

Elon Musk recently took part in a chainsaw-wielding, attention-seeking stunt – and the world sighed and reached for another bucketload of anti-depressants. Having completed a chainsaw safety training course, my immediate instinct on seeing him wave a chainsaw above his head was to yell “Nooo!” However, it transpired the machine wasn’t operational.

Fair enough. After all, you’d never give a toddler a pair of scissors, so the notion of handing Musk a super-sharp cutting device whizzing at 10,000 revolutions per minute seems grossly irresponsible. He clearly shouldn’t be trusted with grown-up machinery – and much else besides. 

Like Donald Trump, Musk has managed to hide in plain sight; appearing so utterly ridiculous that his opponents refused to take him seriously and wrote him off with casual disregard. Admittedly, Elon Musk sounds less like a person and more like an unpleasantly overpowering aftershave, whose pungent odour lingers for days, but, as Alexander the Great knew so well, it just goes to prove you should never underestimate your enemies. 

History can show us many examples of Putin, Trump and Musk-type characters. These psychologically scarred, inadequate people often share strikingly similar upbringings; an aggressive, emotionally absent father, an over-compensating, smothering and indulging mother and siblings who were viewed as competition, not playmates or companions. Appalling hairstyles also seem to feature, as does relentless, soul-destroying bullying from classmates. 

Of course, not all tormented children become global troublemakers, but unless we tackle bullying by intervening at the earliest opportunity, little monsters may potentially grow into big ones. 

In the meantime, despite two recent rocket explosions, (described by SpaceX as ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ incidents) where falling, burning debris caused the closure of several airports, Musk continues to fund space travel projects, including a long-haul voyage to Mars. What a splendid idea. If you’re reading this, Elon, I’ll help you pack...