Apes do Read Banks, Elon, they Just Don’t Understand Him

The Player of Games is a staple of my “Science Fiction and Politics” syllabus. I’ve guided discussions of the book at least ten times. So I’ll just say this: when people like Musk were cosplaying as right-leaning technotopian libertarians, you could roll your eyes and say “they’re obsessed with Iain M. Banks because he describes an anarchist utopia made possible by unfathomably advanced computing.” The fact that they miss the politics? Well, it happens. Plenty of people I know love Speaker for the Dead despite Card’s terrible views — which are, unfortunately, visible in Ender’s Game and its sequels.

These days, it’s pretty clear that Musk just isn’t that bright. Player of Games is, among other things, a critique of Earth. Because it puts people like Musk in positions of wealth and power.

I realize this will be opaque for people who don’t know Banks’ Culture books. Feel free to treat this as a thread on Musk.