Do you live to work? Dream of labor? Elon Musk wants you to. In the corporate hellscape America is becoming, Musk’s only interest in government power is revenue and cheap labor, and his use of X signals the beginning of a dark age for our nation.
Late capitalism was first coined in the early 1900s, but in modern times it is more of a collective idea than a defined term, signifying when every single mechanism of society is commodified, including culturally and economically. An early doomsayer of this era is the merging of corporation and government, because that means the individuals with the most money control the nation.
Seemingly a hors d'oeuvre to total control, Musk is implementing his company town dream — suburbs where residents are employees of a company in control of the businesses, amenities and education. In these towns, residents lose their liberty as everything, including themselves, is owned by one organization. Ironic, considering capitalism’s devotees preach democracy and an excess of choice.
Adam Smith didn’t let capitalism grow to this stage, we did. Obviously, the individual person is almost powerless against a system created by a very powerful few, but knowledge is its own type of agency, and it is frightening that our beliefs and values are so easily shaped by that powerful few.
Musk has told his engineers to broadcast his posts, with misleading election-related tweets of his amassing over 2 billion views. During the lead-up to the election, he posted an AI image of Kamala Harris in communist garb that violated his own app’s policies. He also disseminated the conspiracy theory that the Democrats were flying undocumented immigrants into the states to vote.
It’s hard to know how far these tweets have spread, but they were certainly a factor in Donald Trump’s win and the economic policies he plans to enact, which will directly benefit people like Musk. Meta seems to be following suit, with Mark Zuckerberg relaxing moderation of discriminatory posts and DEI standards. Why? To appeal to the people that will be in power for the next four years. It appears no corporate overlord is immune to the temptation of government power.
Musk and Trump have been in public cahoots during Musk's election interference, and he has now been named co-leader of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. This sets the precedent that anyone with money or means can access and interfere with government affairs and control the masses with what is effectively becoming state-controlled media.
Other countries that have systematically used social media to push their government’s ideals are seen as totalitarian and contrary to American democracy. Russia’s VK is controlled by people with government ties and most popular social media are banned. China’s media is almost exclusively state-run, with officials censoring anti-party opinions. Under Trump, we will slowly resemble the countries he and his party call our mortal enemies.
As some realize the corporate scheme of a wealth-gapped capitalist nation, the top one percent needs a way to suppress dissent. The easiest way to do so? To divide. Exactly what Musk is accomplishing with his X algorithm.
