Boredom Leads to Great Things 50
visited the country before together with his father. America
meant freedom, and freedom to the young Elon meant
movies, technology, and comics. “I have to admit I might
have been a bit too fascinated about America, but it really
did seem everything was possible there and, at the time,
not so possible in South Africa,” he said. Elon obviously
couldn’t move on his own, so his plan was to convince
his father to move with him. All three siblings lived with
their mother, and Elon thought it was unfair that no one
lived with their father.59,60Errol said yes. Then he changed
his mind because he felt he had established himself as an
engineer in South Africa, so he didn’t want to restart in
another country.^363
As Elon grew older, there were still no signs of weak-
nesses in the apartheid system. He knew the government
would force him to serve the two years of compulsory
military service for white men. Joining the military wasn’t
an issue. What he didn’t want was to participate in the
suppression of the black people, which is what the military
did. “Who wants to serve in a fascist army?” Elon asked. To
avoid joining the military, Elon had to revive the old plans
to move to the US.^263
Once again, Elon tried to convince either of his parents
to emigrate across the Atlantic Ocean. His mother was
born in Canada and her father was an American citizen.
But because his mother hadn’t received her American
citizenship at a certain age before her father died, Elon
couldn’t get an American citizenship for himself. So he
didn’t have any other option than moving to Canada. His