Elon Musk: Savior or Deceiver?
Cults of personality are tricky that way
Yesterday, Elon Musk assumed ownership of Twitter, fired some broadly-despised executives, and proudly announced, “The bird is free.” Liberty-minded Twitter users rejoiced with the kind of exuberance that hasn’t been seen since the Berlin Wall came down.
Anticipation was high that Donald Trump, Steve Kirsch, Ed Dowd, and other prominent anti-establishment figures would have their accounts reinstated promptly, and feeds were full of “test tweets” critical of transgender politics, COVID shots, the war in Ukraine, and other verboten topics.
Less than a day later, Elon tweeted his plan for to-be-determined content moderation policies.
The liberty movement (people skeptical of the mainstream media and authority structures) immediately fractured into two camps: those who see Elon as the savior of worldwide free speech; and those who see him as some combination of goofy puppet and CIA asset. Many Twitter users are prominent believers in Elon the Savior, but some are skeptical, including former NY Times journalist Alex Berenson, who is currently suing Twitter over their censorship collusion with Pfizer and the Federal government.
While Substack user 2nd Smartest Guy in the World has already written two detailed pieces representing the opposition perspective.
Overall, the dominant emotion for Team Reality this weekend could probably be described as “cautious optimism.” We’ve all been lied to, betrayed, gaslit, and disappointed too many times to believe that a member of the rich and powerful elite is actually going to stand up for truth and freedom (especially with tremendous amounts of money on the line).
And yet, we all need heroes, and as Alexander Pope observed, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” Cynicism can seem smarter than optimism, but joy feeds the soul more than wariness does.
For better or worse, Twitter is a big part of the global town square. By all means, let’s hope that Elon’s influence will be a positive one … But let’s remember what Living Colour warned us about in 1988: beware the cult of personality.
damn thats a great song. and i like your commentary on the cautious optimism. sums up the enigmatic situation quite well.
Thanks for the post. Well said and appreciated the links to 2nd Smartest. Seriously depressing those. One thing I have not seen much coverage outside Zero Hedge is the threat of EU speech sanctions for misinformation which clock in at 6% of global revenue:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/how-eu-forcing-twitter-censor-and-musk-cant-stop-it
Indeed, EU reply to Musk “Bird is free” was to paraphrase as I’m not on Twitter, “within our rules.” At the risk of inducing nausea, here is Politico:
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-commissioner-to-musk-twitter-will-play-by-our-rules/