By Chris Revelle | Politics | August 22, 2023
Ronan Farrow has published an illuminating, scary, and infuriating piece in the New Yorker about Elon Musk and his way-too-cozy relationship with the United States government. It’s a real doozy! Between jeopardizing Ukraine’s use of Starlink and holding up America’s electronic vehicle development according to his whims, Musk’s behavior cements him as a petulant tyrant who rules not even by edict but by tantrum. That he was allowed to accrue so much power and influence within the American government’s sphere without being an elected official intensifies the absurdity of the situation. With this and Musk’s potentially fatal stranglehold on X/Twitter, which is still a major hub of information and disinformation alike, we see a great deal of power and influence concentrated on a fool who cannot be trusted to wield either responsibly, let alone coherently.
Take for example the recent flap over the decision to eliminate the block function. Not even James Woods, a terminally incorrect public figure and one of Musk’s putrid “free speech absolutists,” could dissuade the decision. Catturd, an appropriately named prominent bootlicker of Musk’s, couldn’t convince him either. There are still plenty of sycophants applauding the decision, never minding the possibility that the app could get booted off Apple and Google’s app stores. The reason for this change is debatable. Is it because, as Musk mentioned in passing, the block function “makes no sense?” Is it because he was shown how many accounts blocked him and he spiraled about it? Who knows? Musk isn’t known for being consistent or cogent in his reasoning and given his penchant for throwing ego-fits, the latter possibility feels likely.
It’s understandable to wonder if things were always heading here to this incredibly banal and foolish state of affairs or if there was another path Musk could’ve gone. This has led to some Sliding Doors-style musings about whether Musk might’ve become a force for the greater good if progressives had accepted him more or some other diverging path, but I don’t find this to be particularly helpful. For one thing, we cannot change the past. For another, this assumes that Musk has actual politics. Musk is much more like Trump in that his politics are whatever they need to be to advance his personal interests. There is no actual philosophy, not a consistent one anyway. He does whatever is best for him/his wealth and because we’re primed to view wealth as a virtue in itself, we call it business genius. Any discussion of him potentially being swayed in a more progressive direction is moot; there are no political values to appeal to. He’s in it only for himself. For a time his interests aligned with progressives. Then they didn’t and he flipped. On top of that, no one figure should have this much influence spread across so many spheres and be in an unelected position. What we see in Musk is that with enough riches, a person may buy their way into state power. It does not matter what their politics are, this should not happen. If we believe we need a Lefty Elon, then we are no better than the MAGA chuds who look the other way for Trump.
The answer will never be to find another monster. A monster is not somehow better just because we share similar politics. The argument that “we need our own Elon” is correct in its recognition of Musk as a blight upon our world, but very wrong in how to approach that problem. “We need our own Elon” seems to ignore how Musk stands as an emblem of generational wealth and the unchecked capitalism that has shredded our society. The many are made to suffer for the benefit of the very few, so to find “our own Elon” is to assume there’s nothing wrong with the system that produced him. He’s not a supervillain that dropped out of the sky; he’s a product of our culture. To truly fight Musk, we have to think outside of that frame. The solution to a rich nutjob who’s with the Republicans (for now) is not another rich nutjob who’s with the Democrats (for now). The solution isn’t to find a singular hero that we can pin all our hopes on and then sit on our hands letting them fight the scary monster for us.
The solution is not to find some equal monster who happens to have the same interests, it’s to greet Musk-like figures with suspicion and hold them to account. The solution is in realizing how ridiculous it is to absorb tremendous wealth for no other benefit but your own. The solution is to question openly and often why these so-called titans of industry are able to avoid taxes. The solution is in questioning whether this capitalistic system serves even most of us or if we suffer so doofuses like Musk may thrive. The solution is in realizing how much Musk and others like him have held us back when it’s served them. The solution is reform and regulation that we demand through our representation. The solution is to become as active and loud in our communities about these issues. The solution lies in realizing our democratic system means little when Nazis like Harlan Crowe can buy the Supreme Court. The solution to a capitalistic monster like Elon Musk is never going to be another capitalistic monster. The solution lies in fundamentally challenging and changing the system we operate in. It will take a long time and significant effort, but it’s worth it to break the cycle and create a new one. That won’t come from another Elon Musk, who relies on the status quo for their wealth and power. That will come from us, from me and you.
