Musk as Grand Strategist
I have some thoughts on Elon Musk:
Much of this appears to involve an increasing fascination with authoritarianism. Like Donald Trump, Musk has expressed frustration with the democratic decision-making process, especially as regards regulation. Like Trump, Musk appears to believe that he can develop a personal relationship with authoritarian leaders that will allow him to cut deals, notwithstanding the realities of geopolitics. And like many figures on the alt-right, there seems to be some evidence that Musk was radicalized by the limited lockdowns practiced by the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic…
The parallels with Henry Ford are too obvious to ignore. Ford was a committed and virulent anti-semite who expressed, from time to time, considerable sympathy for Imperial Germany in the First World War and Nazi Germany in the Second...
Some have argued that it is impossible for anyone to be stupid enough to believe Russian officials when they claim that an attack on Sevastopol would produce nuclear war. While it is true that this is an almost shockingly stupid thing for a person to believe, Musk fancies himself to be a self-made billionaire who succeeded because he believed in a great many unreasonable and absurd things. Ronan Farrow’s recent portrait of Musk is somewhat unflattering on personal terms, and it is quite alarming in policy terms. Farrow also suggested Musk has abused a variety of legal and illegal drugs, although this hardly puts him in unusual company…
“If I believe it, it must be true,” is a strange twist on the old Nixonian idea “it’s not illegal if the president does it,” but it’s hardly unusual for titans of industry to believe absurd things.
That man is a real piece of work…