On Cowardice

Elon Musk, Ronald "Mac" MacDonald, And That Thing That Happens When Fake Bullshit Crashes Into Reality

Consider, for a moment, Ronald “Mac” MacDonald - the self-styled “enforcer” of the It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia gang. Mac is a deeply conflicted soul, quick to anger and emotionality, hyper-self-conscious, and constantly - constantly - pontificating about *incredible abilities* he transparently does not possess. He claims he is a black belt in karate. He says he can do a backflip (he does them every day of his life, after all). He assures Charlie that, if not for the burden of his overly-constrictive pants, he would easily scale the wall of a 12 foot deep abandoned pool like Jackie Chan in Rush Hour. He absolutely has the core strength to pull that off. When confronted with the challenge to actually perform these feats, Mac is equally consistent: he dissembles. He sputters out hastily-concieved excuses. He gets angry - really, really angry. Anything it takes to avoid having to live up to his false bravado. Anything to avoid that specific humiliation. Does this remind you of anyone? Yes, “small children” comes to mind…but for me, Mac’s demeanor is increasingly similar to that of the world’s richest and most cylindrical man - Elon Musk.