Billionaires behaving badly
Elon Musk, one of the wealthiest individuals on the planet, has decidedly and publicly embraced right-wing ideologies. Not only does he wield significant influence in media, but he now owns Twitter, which he has skewed to the right. He reactivated several right-wing accounts, such as those of Tommy Robinson, and even before purchasing Twitter, Musk publicly stated that he would reinstate Donald Trump’s account.
One of Musk’s more baffling decisions was to ban the use of the biological term ‘cisgender’ as hate speech while simultaneously allowing a surge of actual hate speech on the platform. This coincided with his dismantling of the reporting system, which had functioned relatively well before the media platform acquisition.
Musk’s shift to the right has become increasingly overt. He recently hosted a chaotic Twitter rally for Trump, where the two billionaires discussed various topics, with Musk noticeably struggling with the very technology he paid $44 billion for. From this semi-candid discussion, socialists can discern the deepening ties between these two cheerleaders of capital.
Trump’s attacks on trans people have escalated, as seen in his comments during a rally in Bozeman, Montana. in his usual stilted delivery he made slights about transgender athletes in the Olympics and pledged to strip funding from any school that promotes critical race theory or ‘transgender insanity.’ Trans media commentator Erin from Erin in the Morning noted that Trump is ‘doubling down’ on his anti-trans rhetoric.
Musk’s alignment with right-wing politics wasn’t a road to Damascus revelation. While dating Grimes, mother of his trans daughter Vivian, Elon would espouse his trans-humanist ideas, a kind of utopian technocrat dream. Grimes herself, famously photographed with the Communist Manifesto, claimed to subscribe to ‘Fully Automated Luxury Space Communism’ while Elon described himself in the vaguest of terms as an anarchist despite the anarchists denouncing his claim at the time, citing his emerald mine owning and anti-union activities.
It was by May 2020 that Musk signalled his alignment with alt-right ideas and their misinformation by tweeting, ‘Take the red pill.’ This phrase, from the film The Matrix, has been adopted by reactionary groups as a metaphor for rejecting leftist views in favour of alt-right narratives.
Vivian Wilson describes her father as ‘[throwing] me to the wolves in what was one of the most humiliating experiences of my entire life’. Vivian herself made tongue-in-cheek posts in response to Musk’s comments, where he described her as ‘killed’ and ‘dead.’ She wrote, ‘Last time I checked I am, indeed, not dead,’ and ‘I look pretty good for a dead b**ch’. Vivian publicly refuted Musk’s claims that she was influenced by a ‘woke mind virus,’ highlighting his absenteeism and criticising his need for validation from ‘red-pilled’ right-wing supporters.
Musk is more interested in mining space gold and creating an off-planet capitalist fiefdom than in solving the pressing ecological problems we are facing on Earth. His silence on climate change during his Twitter conversation with Trump is very telling. Instead of addressing these challenges head-on, Musk seems to believe that becoming a MAGA technocrat wizard priest is the path to becoming the first Martian king.
As socialists we understand that what snake-oil Musk is selling is the extension of capitalism into space but we advocate for a society where all individuals, regardless of their gender identity, are treated with dignity and respect. It is imperative to challenge the harmful ideologies perpetuated by those in power. We stand in solidarity with Vivian and transgender individuals facing similar struggles, while emphasising the urgent need for a socialist revolution and a society free from the capitalist magnifying glass that uses misogyny as a tool to fracture our class.
A.T.