In a country wrestling with rising crime rates, viral videos of smash-and-grab robberies, and heated debates about bail reform, Elon Musk says the conversation has gone dangerously off track.
A few months ago, Musk sat down with Tucker Carlson earlier this year to talk about what he sees as one of America's growing blind spots: misplaced empathy.
"What I see is what I call shallow empathy," Musk said. "People have empathy for the criminals but not empathy for the victims of the criminals."
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Musk wasn't talking about hypothetical issues. He pointed to a hard reality: a small slice of society — "a few percent," as he put it — struggle with severe anger problems or "enjoy hurting other people." Without serious consequences, he warned, they don't just stop.
"If you do not incarcerate them," Musk said, "they will hurt other people."
Rather than asking what makes politicians or activists feel good about themselves, Musk argued society needs a harder conversation about the greater good. "I believe one should have deep empathy and ask, what is the greater good for society?" he said. "Is it better to incarcerate violent criminals and prevent them from hurting people, or to let them loose and allow those people to be hurt? I think the latter is much worse."
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Musk's frustration taps into a broader national debate. In cities like Los Angeles, efforts to soften criminal sentencing have triggered public backlash. District Attorney George Gascón, criticized for scaling back prosecutions and sentencing enhancements, faced a tough reelection fight against Nathan Hochman, who promised to bring back stricter penalties in the name of protecting victims.
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Carlson agreed with Musk, pointing out that modern thinking seems more concerned with showing compassion toward criminals than with protecting victims.
But Musk wasn't finished. He tied the same kind of shallow decision-making to a wider frustration: the suffocation of innovation in America.
Citing endless regulations, ballooning bureaucracy, and the rise of consultants who profit without building anything, Musk compared the situation to an "Atlas Shrugged" scenario, where true creators are buried under a mountain of red tape.
"I build cars, I build rockets, I build satellite internet," Musk said. "I can't put myself in the mindset of someone who wants to do crime. I don't want to hurt people."
Musk blamed part of the problem on people growing up in "safe, sheltered environments," unable to grasp the harsh realities of violence because they've never seen it up close. Well-meaning but naive, they design policies with good intentions — but innocent people pay the price.
His message cuts deeper than crime statistics: in a society built on shallow empathy, the real victims aren't just forgotten — they're sacrificed.
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