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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/20/elon-musk-is-becoming-a-one-man-rogue-state-its-time-we-reined-him-in>
"Elon Musk is, more or less, a rogue state. His intentions are self-serving and
nefarious, and his nation-state level resources allow him to flout the law with
impunity. To put it into context, if dollars were metres, Musk’s money would be
enough to take him to Mars and back, while a mere millionaire could only make a
round trip from Paris to Amsterdam.
The sheer immorality of any one person possessing so much wealth is obvious to
most people with basic amounts of empathy. But when it comes to Musk and the
other 14 people worth more than $100bn, the morality of it is almost a
secondary concern. Their individual wealth is a society-distorting threat to
democracy in the same way that economics has always recognised monopolies to be
dangerous to a functional market.
For $250m in direct support – and an additional $44bn for control over X, nee
Twitter, and with it the algorithm behind what 300 million users see on their
timelines – Musk was rewarded with a co-presidency. What else are we supposed
to make of his appearance at Notre Dame’s reopening, joining Donald Trump and
various heads of state?
X’s valuation may be dropping as swiftly as its user count, but that’s missing
the point behind the purchase. X served its purpose by helping elect Trump,
with one study suggesting the platform’s algorithm was tweaked to boost
conservative-leaning users. That Tesla stock has surged more than 40% since the
election surely has little to do with the company’s fundamentals and much to do
with investors speculating on an unprecedented boost to its fortunes to come.
Tesla and SpaceX grew into behemoths on the back of public contracts and public
subsidies, and from xAI to Neuralink, his other companies stand to benefit from
Musk’s inside influence over regulation.
Plutocracy is not enough, though, because nothing is ever enough for the
handful of men who have everything. Musk’s new obsessions (beyond the
validation and human affection that he mistakenly believes he will find on
social media) are attacking public servants, slashing social spending and going
after the most vulnerable. “In most cases, the word ‘homeless’ is a lie,” Musk
tweeted recently. “It’s usually a propaganda word for violent drug addicts with
severe mental illness.”
The most charitable interpretation is that Musk exists at various points along
the Dunning Kruger scale. He’s a fantastic venture capitalist, whose
sci-fi-enthusiast investments produced, let’s be honest, far more interesting
companies than something like luxury goods or fast fashion. But this provided
him with incalculably more resources to be a blithering moron when it comes to
things such as geopolitics, or how to build and organise a just society. The
less charitable interpretation – the one presented by his former friend Sam
Harris on a recent podcast appearance – is that he is “palpably, visibly
deranged … snorting ketamine and tweeting at all hours of the day and night”,
has been radicalised by his own algorithm and presents himself as Tony Stark
while actually being Dr Evil.
But because plutocracy and pursuing a radical social agenda in the US still
isn’t enough, Musk has set his sights on other nations as well. Over the past
half-year, he has gone after Italian judges who blocked a migrant detention
plan, promoted misinformation and stoked riots in the UK, floated the
possibility of interfering directly in UK electoral politics by giving Nigel
Farage’s party $100m, and persistently ignored EU law regarding content
moderation and disinformation on X.
When rogue states behave this way – election interference, active
disinformation campaigns, social media manipulation – other states call them
out, or even impose sanctions. Musk is not simply a private citizen with an
opinion and a large following. His sheer wealth, his control of X, and his new
position within the US government place him in a different category. So how
do you solve that kind of problem, or at least respond to it?"
Via Mark Lansbury and Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
