If there’s one man who worries me nearly as much as Donald Trump, it’s the man who will be cheering him on at his rally today: Elon Musk.
Why? Because unlike Trump, he’ll be around for a few more decades. Unlike Trump, he’s a successful businessman, the richest man in the world who's on track to be the first trillionaire. This is sure to give Bernie Sanders heart palpitations.
This is a man who has enough spare change to run a 44-billion-dollar company, once called Twitter, into the ground. Unlike Trump’s failing Truth Social, he didn’t have to build it from the ground up before it fell apart. He’s tearing the platform down one conspiracy theory at a time.
Musk is transforming the amenable, fun-loving Twitter into a right-wing, racist platform called X. He recently posted an AI-generated image of Kamala Harris in a Soviet-style uniform. In doing so, he’s undermining the free speech for which he advocates. It’s one thing to let Trump back onto the platform and totally another to fabricate images and news.
He responded to Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris by posting: “Fine Taylor... you win... I will give you a child.” Musk, in case you didn’t know, thinks he’s doing America a favour by having twelve children with three different women. On that metric alone, he’s ahead of Trump by seven.
Musk once had a brand that liberals found attractive. They bought his Teslas in droves. Sure, Teslas are amazing cars! But what happens when they become infused with Musk’s MAGA delusions? Maybe not literally infused – although who knows what’s in their algorithms – but taking on an air that will smell of his misogynistic political and social views.
He’s not the only one putting on a MAGA hat. Tech billionaire Peter Thiel helped propel JD Vance, now Trump’s running mate, into the senate with an infusion of Silicon Valley campaign funds. Perhaps they realize that if they can get in the good books of someone as susceptible to flattery as Trump, they may prevent the big tech reckoning.
If ever there was political consensus in Washington, it’s how big tech is degrading society. Republican and Democratic lawmakers pounce with political glee every opportunity they get to grill the likes of Mark Zuckerberg for his nasty algorithms. It's taken lawmakers about a decade to understand how it all works, but they’re finally catching on – algorithms that foster division and hate are not good for society.
Facebook takes your data for free and profits from it. There are millions of unintended consequences that not even its founders foresaw. Zuckerberg may have good intentions, but that’s not enough when it comes to giant corporations that are driven by profits and market dominance.
These monopolies solve competition by buying them up. The four biggest tech companies – Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple – buy dozens of companies every year to solidify their dominance. Companies that dare rival their services pay for it one way or another.
I admit, I like my Amazon Prime. I love my iPhone. Does that mean they're good for us as a society? Not necessarily. One has only to look at the rise of China and the loss of manufacturing jobs in Canada and the U.S. to see how free trade, while good for consumers, is not always good for society.
Musk is emblematic of the new gilded age we have entered, where a few control the most; where one soon-to-be trillionaire exists among millions who are struggling from one pay cheque to another; where one man could potentially influence an election.
From a strategic standpoint, Musk has nothing to lose by joining the ranks of MAGA Republicans. If he can be useful to them politically, he has much to gain. Companies already have far more political sway than the average voter because of their campaign contributions and lobbying efforts. Musk will have not only the ear of the president, should Trump win, but his arm and his leg.
If he wins the election, Trump will at least be done in four years, fading into a distant memory of unstable governance (we’ll hope the worst does not happen). Musk may be with us much longer.
If he somehow uploads his consciousness to the Tesla mainframe, he could be around forever.
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