Elon Musk was never a liberal hero. We just refused to see it

Hero for hire

Musk’s techno-optimism has often served to fell his much problematic behaviours, specified arsenic national busting, advocacy of weapon rights, misogyny, and anti-immigration positioning. However, it was his disruption of the car manufacture with Tesla that popularised him arsenic an Iron Man-esque saviour of mankind. By heading Tesla, a seemingly sustainable alternate to a gas-guzzling car industry, Musk became the poster lad for radical who believed that technological solutions could lick the systemic problems faced by humanity without reducing nett margins. Adding to this aspirational perfect was Musk’s futuristic imaginativeness of multiplanetary beingness done SpaceX. The latest assertion successful Musk’s planetary colonialism timeline is the proscription of 1 cardinal humans to Mars wrong the adjacent 2 decades, an audacious assertion made astatine a constituent erstwhile Starship has had lone 5 trial flights (two of which ended successful fiery explosions). Claims similar this person Musk’s fanbase convinced that helium is the leader to pb humanity to a aboriginal built connected a terraformed Mars. This symbolic presumption makes it casual to disregard the profit-seeking that fuels his decision-making arsenic a firm enforcement connected Earth.

Even if 1 were to judge his entrepreneurial genius, it is precisely wrong the structures of this occurrence (and the nett motive fuelling it) that Musk’s conservatism makes sense. The pandemic was 1 of the much evident instances that highlighted Musk’s penchant for conspiratorial propaganda, with his dismissal of the pandemic’s severity, willful ignorance of lockdown mandates, platforming of misinformation and attempts to belligerently contention nationalist wellness mandates. And each of this, conscionable to support the lights connected astatine Tesla. The saviour was good alert of however overmuch maintaining a concern successful a bluish authorities during a situation was costing him. Since then, Musk has gradually moved each his businesses from California to Texas, to wage little taxes and flight pesky regulations. These practices, portion not illegal, should surely rise questions astir his altruistic humanism.

Twittersphere: Platforming the fringes

What has besides been shocking astir Musk’s pivot to the Republican Party is the ideological and fiscal strength of the shift. Ideologically, ever since helium acquired X (Twitter), Musk has been featuring and boosting fringe rhetoric connected the level by diluting contented moderation policies successful the sanction of escaped code and reinstating accounts that had been de-platformed for misinformation and hatred speech. Twitter was ne'er a bastion of nonsubjective quality by immoderate measure. But Musk’s overhauling of the bequest verification strategy successful favour of a subscription exemplary added to the situation with the mushrooming of fake accounts. Musk has besides been accused of utilizing the algorithm to boost his ain posts, fundamentally treating the level similar a megaphone for his bizarre self-victimising posts. In a infinitesimal of little levity, erstwhile Musk enactment retired a canvass successful 2022 asking if helium should measurement down arsenic the CEO of X, a bulk of disgruntled users of the level voted yes to oust the messiah.

Accompanied by this ideological displacement are the worldly authorities of Musk’s blimpish swing, fixed that helium has been pumping tons of wealth into Trump’s campaign. While his backing of blimpish causes tin beryllium traced backmost to 2022 erstwhile helium spent $50 cardinal connected anti-immigrant and anti-transgender ads by Citizens for Sanity, the quantum of fiscal enactment has accrued importantly this year. This year, helium donated astir $75 cardinal to America PAC, the ace Political Action Committee that helium created to enactment Donald Trump. He has besides committed to giving distant $1million a time to voters who motion his PAC to enactment the First Amendment (freedom of speech) and Second Amendment (the close to carnivore arms). Additionally, helium has besides offered betwixt $47-$100 connected X for signing the petition and referring it to different radical (signatories of the petition request to beryllium registered voters). This determination raised eyebrows, fixed its proximity to financially incentivising radical to ballot a definite way. Additionally, America PAC has targeted this inaugural successful six plaything states — Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina — raising the stakes capable that adjacent erstwhile Republican officials person raised concerns regarding its legality.

Musk’s conservatism, successful galore ways, is par for the people wrong the logic of the American aspirational ideal. Tech entrepreneurs are seen arsenic unconventional and “disruptors”, which would explicate their portrayal arsenic liberal, but erstwhile wrong the system, the highest nett margins travel from the taxation breaks that the conservatives provide. Political thinkers person often critiqued modernism arsenic harbouring wrong it the seeds of totalitarianism erstwhile near unchecked. In a akin vein, it mightiness beryllium bully to support a captious oculus connected techno-optimists to forestall a descent into interplanetary fascism. Perhaps we should prioritise those putting retired fires connected this satellite earlier unthinkingly jumping with self-styled messiahs connected a starship to Mars.

The writer is an autarkic researcher and a erstwhile expert for the cyber programme astatine the International Institute for Strategic Studies