I disagree with your analysis of Elon’s power and think you’re reversing cause and effect in much the same way that Trump’s dumber critics do.
Elon is not capable of upending politics in *any* direction he sees fit, only in the direction of populist rightism. Why? Because there’s a huge supply-demand imbalance: every ‘respectable’ media outlet and power center in the entire western world purveys some variety of neoliberal globohomo, but perhaps a third to half the population demands the opposite. Were Elon to add his voice to the establishment chorus, it would drown in the din. It’s *only* because he has a near-monopoly on being a powerful voice for this undersupplied market that he has such reach. His disastrous foray into H1-B cheerleading is very strong evidence of that.
And ofc this is precisely the same dynamic that allowed Trump, an undisciplined goofball (we love our goofballs, don’t we folks!) to capture the GOP in 2016. There was a huge demand for some politician to say “foreign wars are stupid, immigration sucks” and he was the only supplier. Had he been peddling similar policies as, for instance, Jeb!, he’d have disappeared without a trace. So too would Elon were he to take that course.
I disagree with your analysis of Elon’s power and think you’re reversing cause and effect in much the same way that Trump’s dumber critics do.
Elon is not capable of upending politics in *any* direction he sees fit, only in the direction of populist rightism. Why? Because there’s a huge supply-demand imbalance: every ‘respectable’ media outlet and power center in the entire western world purveys some variety of neoliberal globohomo, but perhaps a third to half the population demands the opposite. Were Elon to add his voice to the establishment chorus, it would drown in the din. It’s *only* because he has a near-monopoly on being a powerful voice for this undersupplied market that he has such reach. His disastrous foray into H1-B cheerleading is very strong evidence of that.
And ofc this is precisely the same dynamic that allowed Trump, an undisciplined goofball (we love our goofballs, don’t we folks!) to capture the GOP in 2016. There was a huge demand for some politician to say “foreign wars are stupid, immigration sucks” and he was the only supplier. Had he been peddling similar policies as, for instance, Jeb!, he’d have disappeared without a trace. So too would Elon were he to take that course.
Hope you had a wonderful PATRIOTS DAY Scott!
I’d love a Varg episode