Friends, my latest article explores the very real possibility that Elon Musk will flop as the savior of your cherished right to free expression. It's kind of a downer, but it injects a dose of realism at a critical moment, I feel. Frankly, it's shocking how normalized censorship has become, and how mortified people become when they have to confront views different from their own. Musk can't fix that. I'm not sure anyone can. It may literally be in our DNA. C'est la vie.
Elon Musk: Fair-Weather Friend?
Recently,
Elon Musk, Twitter's new master, has been intimating that he would
like to step down as CEO of the social media platform. That's not
entirely surprising, as Musk always intended for his role as “Chief
Twit” to be temporary. Musk, however, only took the helm at Twitter
in October, and so for him to be sponsoring polls already about
whether it's time for him to step aside suggests a degree of
uncertainty about his future with the company. He may even be feeling
some remorse about his decision to take on the herculean challenge of
saving free speech online. The sheer number of vitriolic attacks that
have been launched against Musk in recent weeks by the mainstream
media, by Democratic politicians, and by opinion leaders across the
world, must have been deeply shocking to a man who, only recently,
was being feted as Time's “Person of the Year”, and who
historically elicits more plaudits than paroxysms of outrage. Elon
Musk is now reaping the whirlwind that is the inevitable fate of
anyone
who threatens the hegemony of the left-leaning cultural, economic,
and political elite, and he doesn't seem to enjoy it one bit! Who
could blame him if, in the end, he mounts a strategic retreat?
On the face of
it, one might assume that the world's richest man is in a uniquely
strong position to thumb his nose at the progressive nags who are
accustomed to running the media, social media, and, well, more or
less every major institution in existence. Yes, Musk can afford to
buy Twitter, as he has proven, and he can afford to run it at a loss,
perhaps indefinitely. Musk also can draw on a reservoir of good will
that many well-connected people feel towards him, based on his
history of technological and commercial achievement and, frankly,
based on his past embrace of many causes beloved of leftists. Musk's
assets are not unlimited, however, and even he may fear ruination if
he pushes his luck too far.
Consider the fact
that Musk is massively exposed to the risk that big government will
turn against him. Musk benefits from enormous tax breaks and
subsidies, flowing from local, state, and federal government, and one
of his biggest companies, SpaceX, is hugely reliant on federal
contracts. Moreover, since most of Musk's wealth resides in Tesla,
the electric car manufacturer, it is worth remembering that the
company's customer base is comprised mostly of affluent, highly
educated, and liberal-minded people whose increasingly negative
perceptions of Musk could imperil (and already are imperiling)Tesla's
business model.
The risks to Musk
may go beyond the merely financial, however. Musk recently suspended
several prominent journalists from Twitter for sharing a website that
tracked his physical location. He appears to take seriously the idea
that his political and philosophical adversaries are prepared to
share “assassination coordinates” online in a way that
jeopardizes his safety and that of his loved ones. That may be
paranoia, or it may not be, but increasingly Musk is among the
world's most hated men, and, unlike many other men on that
inauspicious list, he does not enjoy Secret Service protection.
That's food for thought, at the very least.
In addition to
all the objective factors that might lead Musk to pull back from his
campaign for free(r) speech, one must also recall that Musk has never
been temperamentally disposed towards ideological combat. Musk is a
futurist and an entrepreneur. He is also something of a technological
and corporate dilettante. He is currently leading no less than six
companies, some of which are household names and some of which are
more quixotic than economically viable. If ultimately Musk were to
step back from his latest venture, Twitter, it would not be the first
time he has done so, and it probably would not be the last.
All in all,
conservatives and lovers of liberty have always had excellent reasons
to doubt Musk's devotion to their cause. As Musk takes more and more
incoming fire from leftists, it would hardly be surprising if he
began to reassess his commitment to the goal of protecting and
enhancing freedom of expression online.
Is Musk a
fair-weather friend to the right? The question presupposes that he
was ever a friend to begin with, but certainly his constancy is, and
always was, doubtful.
Dr.
Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred
and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com.
He appears on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480/106.9.
Voila! Here it is at American Greatness:
https://amgreatness.com/2022/12/23/elon-musk-fair-weather-friend/
