Jun
19
Elon Musk is No Conservative Savior
Please, don’t be taken in by Elon Musk’s charisma and rep as a high-tech visionary.
Don’t get me wrong, Musk is a very bright and forward-thinking guy, even if a touch eccentric. I like and admire some of the projects Musk has spearheaded (e.g., SpaceX/StarLink), even if I find others to be ill-advised (e.g., The Boring Company/Hyperloop). I appreciate his refusal to be satisfied with the status quo, as well as his roguish attitude. Though, at times he seems to go a bit too far (e.g., falsely tweeting that he had secured funding for a private takeover of Tesla; smoking a joint on the Joe Rogan podcast).
Some political conservatives are enamored with Musk, especially given his recent efforts to purchase Twitter in the name of “free speech absolutism”. He is obviously pro-capitalism. He is vocally opposed to the woke “preferred pronoun” stuff. Plus, y’know, he has started to vote Republican, and his political donations have been trending red. What’s not to like? Well, thankfully I don’t need to go any further than to answer with the summary recently provided by Michael Hammond:
“First, he took billions worth of government subsidies [not necessarily a bad thing in itself], supported disastrous climate change policies, and began funding out-of-state abortion funding through Tesla…. Now, in light of the horrific shootings in Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Texas, Mr. Musk wants the government to, ‘at a minimum,’ require a special permit for assault rifle ownership or ‘any semi-automatic gun with supersonic ammo and a large magazine.'”
There is probably more, but that’ll do. Musk is clearly not a consistent conservative. Perhaps closer to inconsistent libertarian? In fact, at a recent all-hands meeting with Twitter employees, when asked about his political leanings, Musk said,
“My political views, I think, are moderate. I’m in favor of moderate politics, but allowing people who have relatively extreme views to express those views within the bounds of the law.”
And, of course, the definition of “moderate” in this context depends on who you ask. I wonder what Musk’s definition is.
Now, what about this Twitter deal?
I have read fearmongering Leftists bemoaning the pending merger, warning that if Musk gets control of Twitter, the platform will deteriorate into a virtual anarchy of misinformation, hate speech, bullying, etc. I doubt it, though it is still unclear just how loose the Musk-era speech policies will be. It may take some time for new policies to find the right balance. And, of course, I understand their hating the idea that Musk will crack down on the use of spambots and fake accounts, and that the woke mob won’t be the gatekeepers to who gets to tweet what. Strange how Big-Tech-behaving-badly becomes a much bigger concern when a non-Lefty might be in charge.
However, I’m sure there will be rules for proper behavior and acceptable content even on a Musk-driven Twitter, as implied in the above quote. (As there should be.) But, given his expansion plans and what appear to be big government tendencies in Musk’s thinking, it is possible that he could eventually use the platform — or his influence as the man guiding the ship — in ways that true political conservatives won’t like. (Not sure what that might entail, at this point.)
For now, I urge cautious optimism regarding Twitter and more broadly a healthy skepticism in regards to any claims that Musk should be trusted to act as a genuine political conservative (which he does not himself claim to be). He may be an ally on certain issues, but case-by-case judgement would seem to be called for.
