Elon, Evangelicals, and "NPCs"
"Non-playable characters" in a narcissistic world
My brain is still stuck on trying to figure out the system, the Great Explainer, of this political reality we’re currently living in. How did the religious conservatives and the tech bro billionaires all end up in bed together?? What world are we living in?
I’m not a video gamer at all, but one concept I’ve found kind of intriguing (also, horrifying) is the idea of a worldview where most people are considered “NPCs,” or non-playable characters. They’re the characters in a video game that don’t matter at all — they’re just filler, doing other tasks but never part of the storyline, and not important enough to be a playable character.
Elon Musk is of video game culture and I’ve heard a couple of podcast interviews1 describing him as viewing most people as NPCs, which makes so much sense. In Elon’s mind, only a few people really matter, and Musk himself is “Player 1” so to speak. It’s a narcissistic way to view the world. It also makes sense of how he could turn from “Obama-era liberal” to rightwing Nazi fascist technocrat. The throughline is that in his story, he is the hero on the hero’s journey and he, and probably he alone, has the ability to save the world from doom and destruction. SpaceX and Tesla were arguably ways to improve the state of humanity and our future on this planet. (We can argue many things about them, but I think we can at least grant there could be “good” intentions behind them).
He still believes himself the hero of the story. But now he’s doing so with even more money and an ever-inflated belief that he and he alone can save things (a belief made more real when you can literally buy elections both through campaign donations and buying Twitter / X so you can severely influence online rhetoric and what information ends up being shared). Narcissistic complexes are made worse when people buy into the narrative that you’re as great as you say you are.
In Elon’s world, he and people similar to him are the ones who should propagate, which is why he’s fathered 14 children he doesn’t bother to actively father. It’s, I think, why he dreams of the Mars mission, where he and other “elites” would create a reborn species if civilization here on earth got destroyed. He is also, as narcissists are, completely attention-hungry and at his core, very weak and insecure.
Thinking about this idea, I was struck by the overlap between evangelicals and Elon’s tendencies, which maybe is indeed an explainer for why they’re so chummy now in running/overthrowing our government.
In this conservative version of Christianity, evangelicalism is Player 1, and everyone else who never converts are NPCs. How else can you tolerate the idea that everyone except your select few are going to hell? How can you ever sleep at night? You make everyone else into NPCs. They’re not really part of the game or part of the story. They’re background, they’re useful or important if they convert, otherwise they are discardable and end up in hell anyway, where we don’t have to care about them since…they’re NPCs.
These evangelicals also narcissistically believe they are the center of the story2, and the only ones with the hero’s journey. Nothing outside their personal interpretation of God’s call on their life is important. Different interpretations outside evangelicalism are irrelevant and false. And only they have the answer to save or fix things, whether it’s one’s personal belief system, K-12 education, or the entire government.
And of course, as we’re quickly discovering even in pop culture like Ballerina Farm and other tradwife movements, many in this religion are still keen on procreating to create “ideal” white, patriarchal, Christian families.
Both Elon and evangelicals are undergirded by a narcissistic sense of self. They are the main character in any story, they are the chosen ones, and other people not like them do not matter. They both believe they will be the heroes to save things, or the ones with secret knowledge granted by God or… I dunno, I guess Musk’s special brain or whatever he thinks gives him superior knowledge. And finally, they care very little about damage that is done in their quest to turn the world into their vision of ideal.
It’s certainly not a value system I want to be part of, but it’s one I’m actively protesting against. And since I don’t believe in “NPCs” because I think we’re all worthy characters in this wild earth-story, we can all be part of the movement.
Here’s a link to my favorite one, where Ezra Klein interviews Kara Swisher (Apple Podcasts, 2/7/25, “What Elon Musk Wants”)
One of my most popular posts is:
Narcissism or Evangelicalism: Which Came First?
I’m going to tackle this topic in two parts: the first part being a little more intellectually-oriented, exploring some of the ‘whys’ behind the evangelical/narcissism question. (Since intellectualization is one of my favorite coping mechanisms!) The second part will explore more of the emotional ramifications on ourselves and how to move forward from t…
THAT is a great explanation of how Musk thinks, Christine. It's been apparent all along that F-Elon Trump do not care about all the millions of people they harm or kill with their cuts and reorganization. They and their peers are the only ones who count and we are all just the little people. But your NPC analogy makes it clear, we are not just second or third tier people to them; WE DON'T COUNT AT ALL in the world they are building for themselves. To use a Minecraft analogy (my grandson plays it), we are animals and villagers who are just part of the scenery at best or to be killed in various horrific ways for a momentary power thrill at worst (yes, video games are mentally sick). Which brings me to a question: Has their narcissistic grandiosity reached the level of psychosis? When you clearly disconnect from and disregard all of humanity except a tiny few elite "players," are you in fact so out of touch with reality as to be considered psychotic? My own opinion is probably yes, but I am asking your professional opinion--if it's ethically OK to express that opinion publicly (if not, text me your thoughts and I promise not to share them 😄).
Narcissism indeed. Procreating children but not bothering to parent them. Living under this regime tells my body that it never really escaped the past and never will.
Love your protest sign!!!