Elon Musk's journey from an extraordinary child to the richest man in the world makes for an interesting biopic. From Space X to Tesla, PayPal to Social Media Platform X, it seems to have done it all, and more.
Musk is now set to become head of the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has broad powers to reduce the size of the U.S. state's federal budget from about $7 trillion to about $2 trillion. . Musk will also play a bigger role in guiding future policy, particularly on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, as one of his key allies has now been dubbed the 'AI and crypto czar'.
This new Trump-Musk alliance is a consolidation of political and economic power.
Musk's recent incarnation as a 'first friend' or close political and business adviser to the US president is ostensibly due to the role he played in Trump's election success by investing his own money. Musk's greater influence in the incoming administration has led some to derisively refer to him as 'President Musk'.
Given Musk's formidable role in the incoming administration, let's examine some key questions. Why has Musk got the state in his crosshairs? Is Musk trying to fashion America according to his worldview? Is the rise of Musk good for American democracy? Will Musk succeed in implementing his agenda?
This new Trump-Musk alliance is a consolidation of political and economic power.
In Exterminate All the Brutes, the late Swedish author Sven Lindqvist expertly detailed the evolution of various theories of European racial superiority. No other nation embodied European ideals of racial superiority as much as South Africa, where apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation, ensured the social, economic and political suppression of the white minority.
However, after apartheid, the state soon became a symbol of oppression for the white minority. The white minority's distrust of the state ran so deep that they ended an active nuclear weapons program before transferring power to Africans.
Some other prominent voices in Musk and Trump's Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement — white tech entrepreneurs like PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel — spent their formative years in apartheid South Africa. Perhaps this is one reason why tech entrepreneurs like Musk display 'libertarian' tendencies that reflect an unwavering hostility to the state and bureaucracy.
Given Musk's penchant for technology, his views should be more appropriately described as 'techno-libertarian' or 'extropian'. Extropians believe that order can emerge spontaneously in political systems, meaning that, left to themselves, all political systems will inevitably achieve equilibrium, making the state and bureaucracy redundant.
Technological libertarians express a Panglossian faith in the power of technology and AI to solve all the complex problems facing humanity, provided that technological entrepreneurs can be freed from the "mountains of destructive [state] regulation". This explains Musk's determination to colonize Mars if our planet becomes uninhabitable due to climate change or nuclear war.
In other words, technological libertarians view modern states as constraints and argue that unlimited economic growth can only be brought about by technology and AI in unregulated or competitive markets.
In fact, any technolibertarian project that promises economic growth by reducing the size of the state in favor of competitive markets is ultimately just a worldview. Often, such projects are an extension of Darwinian thinking such as 'natural selection', whereby nature favors competition by ensuring 'survival of the fittest'. Thus it should come as no surprise that one of the main targets of the new DOGE under Musk is social welfare programs such as Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare; People need to either sink or swim.
Not only did Musk contribute heavily to the Trump campaign — $277 million — but he relentlessly used his social platform X to boost Trump's electoral fortunes. Musk's resulting influence in the new administration, or apparent quid pro quo engagement, does not bode well for American democracy and its system of checks and balances, especially when it comes to reducing the technocratic libertarian state and its regulatory capacity. intend to
In the future, as the state and bureaucracy are forced to wither, private corporations may go to any length to influence the political process. We can see private corporations becoming official sponsors behind various political parties, just as they sponsor various sports teams, to justify their corporate offerings like 'RoboCop' or 'Judge Dredd'. To be selected.
The notorious US prison-industrial complex, or the private prisons that make $4bn a year in profits, are already looking for new future opportunities in the coming crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Still, Musk's mission of technological freedom is proving to be a tall order for two main reasons. First, Musk has to walk a fine line because while Musk is looking for a smaller state, the Trump administration is preparing to further expand the state's reach through tariffs and subsidies for an upcoming trade war with the rest of the world. is
The second reason has to do with Musk's apparent pro-China leanings. China is Tesla's biggest market outside the US, while Musk has access to top Chinese leaders. In April this year, Musk had a one-on-one meeting with Premier Li Keqiang. As the rivalry between the US and China continues to intensify, as evidenced by Trump populating his administration with well-known China hawks, Musk's chances of success don't look great.
In essence, as the genius Mr. Musk heads to Washington, techno-libertarians are celebrating their new alliance with Donald Trump. But real dangers lurk beneath the seemingly calm waters. If Musk actually succeeds in shrinking the size of the state, private corporations will gain more political influence. This is not good news for American democracy.
Still, Musk may not be able to go too far, as his Chinese connections could alienate him, especially as the U.S. becomes more and more obsessed with controlling China.