Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has repeatedly voiced his concerns regarding declining birth rates, which he believes threaten the future of civilization. Musk, a father of 14, has previously announced his desire to have more children. He hopes to “get to legion-level” before the apocalypse he’s convinced is just around the corner arrives. His rhetoric and policy decisions on family planning and population growth have indicated a troubling new direction that has received a lot of negative press.
Musk’s ideas about procreation go much further than his personal desires. He has since doubled down on this, saying a plummeting birth rate is the greatest danger confronting humanity. During a discussion at the Wall Street Journal’s annual CEO Council in December 2021, he stated, “A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far.” This quote really sums up his approach to fighting for families who wish to have more children.
Personal Life and Family Dynamics
Musk’s family life is just as complicated as his public persona. He now has four children with Shivon Zilis, a Neuralink executive, and one son with author Ashley St. Clair. In a fitting show of chutzpah, Musk is said to have responded by proposing that St. Clair accept a single payment of $15 million. He pledged $100,000 a month in support to keep their child’s information private. This move has opened up a broader discussion on the consequences of wealth and political influence in destroying personal relationships and dividing families.
Musk claims to have “very good relationships” with his children. Among his relationships, none reflects a deeper hostility than the one he has with his daughter Vivian. This underscores the risk he is taking with his own family in his efforts to defend larger families in the public sphere. In the above discussion, we see Musk’s obvious dedication to family, but it seems that none of his relationships are without their thorny undercurrents.
A Vision for the Future
It would fit into Musk’s own grand vision for the future. One where families are larger and more prolific. He actively recruits women to impregnate via social media site X (formerly Twitter). The move has been met with great excitement and deep cynicism. Musk’s reply to news stories covering his eccentric baby-seeking endeavors was characteristically irreverent. Unconcerned with the Wall Street Journal’s media hostility, he bragged in return, “TMZ >> WSJ.”
His concerns about declining birth rates are not just the musings of a metro mayor — they’re part of a growing societal issue. “Please look at the numbers — if people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble, mark my words,” he warned. His comments reflect the rightful alarm that recent rapid population growth portends for the future.
To his credit, Musk even joked about the logistics of personally colonizing Mars in an on-stage conversation with entrepreneur Mark Cuban. This playful remark drives home his serious, grandiose plans for humanity’s place in the cosmos. Underneath this humor a very important message starts to shine through. It deepens our commitment to creating an environmentally sustainable future and supporting a healthy, equitable population on the planet.
The Call for Change
Elon Musk’s advocacy for larger families has ignited discussions about societal values and the role of government in family planning. He argues that negative societal attitudes toward wealth and childbirth are leading to collapsing birth rates. In the past, Musk has railed against what he refers to as “the full communism.” He draws attention to an almost instinctive ideology that condemns riches for their association with sin. This view speaks to his vision of a culture of support for families to thrive instead of a culture that criminalizes and stifles growth.