Paul Jay – Elon Musk’s Trump Card: Unmasking the Billionaire’s Political Play

Hi, I’m Paul Jay, and welcome to theAnalysis.news podcast: Peterson Asks Musk Why He Supports Trump. Jordan Peterson recently conducted a two-hour-plus fawning interview with Elon Musk. When asked why he is supporting Trump, Musk’s answers are dressed up in higher ideals, but his real objective eventually becomes clear.

Musk says he supports the Republicans because they promote: 

·      meritocracy

·      freedom of the individual and especially freedom to operate (he means a business)

·      free speech and are against censorship

·      They are for opposition to gender transition for minors, something Musks considers a crime

·      and of course, Trump, as the strong leader America needs

It’s all part of Musk’s vision to “Make America Greater.”

Let’s unpack Musk’s vision for the future and why he is backing Trump with millions of dollars. All quotes from Musk are from the Peterson interview. 

Meritocracy

Musk says, “DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion hires) is fundamentally anti-meritocratic.” He argues, “My view is at this point in the United States, the Republican Party is more in line with a meritocracy and with personal freedom.”

Even Musk must know that a true meritocracy requires a level playing field, which is mostly achieved through government policy in areas such as public education, progressive taxation, and policies that address systemic inequalities. Republican policies, which Musk supports, work against these goals:

1. Lower taxes on the wealthy and reduced estate taxes concentrate wealth and power and have created a system more akin to aristocracy than meritocracy.

2. Underinvestment in public education, particularly in low-income areas, perpetuates educational inequality.

3. Opposition to policies addressing systemic racial and economic disparities maintains existing barriers to equal opportunity.

4. Systemic racism is fundamentally aimed at creating pools of cheap labor. Children coming from such communities rarely escape poverty.

5. A myriad of relationships, networking, and inherited wealth gives the children of rich families enormous advantages (including Musk himself).

It’s worth noting that a 93% estate tax (which was the highest rate in the U.S. from 1941 to 1976) can reduce the accumulation of dynastic wealth and promote a society where success is more dependent on individual merit than inherited advantage. Advocating for such policies would be more consistent with true support for meritocracy.

That said, even a 93% estate tax didn’t prevent the American oligarchy from becoming more powerful. The only way to really weaken their hold on the politics and economy is for large scale, diversified, democratically controlled public ownership. Of course, any such proposal would put us into Trump’s “vermin” territory and would no doubt outrage Mr. Musk as interfering in his “freedom to operate.” 

Musk has succeeded in ways few people of privilege have, so merit did play a role in his success, but that said, he denies his massive wealth is only possible in a system that is not a meritocracy. A true meritocracy would have no place for such massive wealth disparities, and many more people would have an opportunity to excel based solely on merit. 

Musk attacks DEI because it is a Republican talking point that helps nurture racism, that he hopes will elect Trump. Musk really advocates meritocracy to justify the power of the techno billionaires. Steve Bannon, who’s on board with him on the Trump wagon, says the rich are rich because it’s God’s will. It’s a modern version of the divine right of kings. Whether Musk believes it’s God or not, he certainly thinks of himself as a techno king that deserves his status based solely on merit.

Freedom to Operate

Musk advocates “promoting freedom to operate, meaning the least amount of government intervention possible.” He argues that “the natural tendency over time, almost like entropy, is that the hand of government gets heavier every year. The laws and regulations accumulate every year, and these laws and regulations are immortal.”

It’s worth noting that Musk’s companies have benefited significantly from government support, including subsidies for electric vehicles and NASA contracts for SpaceX. 

At the heart of Musk’s support for Trump lies his vision for Tesla. Musk’s primary motivation for opposing regulation stems from Tesla’s ambitious plans for self-driving cars. He sees government oversight as a potential roadblock to rapidly deploying autonomous vehicles, which he believes are crucial for Tesla’s future success and a broader transportation revolution.

Now, Musk does warn about the unregulated growth of Artificial Intelligence, that is when it comes to his competition, but that’s just what he wants for Tesla. AI, he says, is the future of Tesla. So he doesn’t want regulated AI when it comes to his companies. And, as he puts it, “Yeah, they’re robots on four wheels. Autonomous robots on four wheels, yeah. They just look like a car.”

A major piece of his “freedom to operate” argument is his fierce opposition to unions. Musk’s freedom to operate stands in opposition to workers’ freedom to organize. Musk criticizes the Democratic Party and its relationship with labor unions. He suggests a reason for his success is his opposition to unions, “I think part of it might be that SpaceX is not unionized, and the Democratic Party in the U.S. is fundamentally controlled by the unions.”

Of course, we know the Democratic Party is far more controlled by the financial sector than unions, but Musk doesn’t want to talk about that. 

Freedom of Speech

Musk has claimed that Republicans are more supportive of free speech and less prone to censorship. He argues, “These days, they [Democrats] seem to be the censorship party under the guise of hate speech.”

While the Democrats have shut down whistle-blowers, and Biden pursued Trump’s persecution of Julian Assange, the censorship promised by a Trump administration goes much further. Numerous Republican-led initiatives and Trump’s own statements show what’s in store:

1. Book Bans: Republican-controlled states like Florida have been at the forefront of banning books in schools, targeting works dealing with race, LGBTQ+ issues, and other topics deemed controversial by conservative groups.

2. Trump’s Rhetoric: Trump’s own statements about treating the left and socialists like “the vermin they are” suggests a willingness to suppress opposing political viewpoints.

3. “Don’t Say Gay” laws: Several Republican-led states have passed or proposed laws restricting discussion of LGBTQ+ topics in schools.

4. Attacks on Critical Race Theory: Republican efforts to ban or restrict teaching about systemic racism represent another attempt to censor ideas they find challenging.

5. Media Intimidation: Trump’s consistent attacks on the press as “fake news” and “enemies of the people” created an atmosphere of intimidation for journalists.

6. Trump supported violent police suppression of Black Lives Matter protests.

Musk’s support for this version of “free speech” is particularly puzzling given his self-proclaimed role as a “free speech absolutist.” Clearly, his economic objectives are more important. 

Climate Science Denial

Perhaps the most glaring contradiction in Musk’s support for Trump lies in the realm of climate science. Musk has built much of his reputation and business empire on the promise of sustainable energy and electric vehicles. Tesla’s core mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, a goal that aligns closely with the scientific consensus on the need to address climate change. Trump, on the other hand, has consistently denied or downplayed the reality and severity of human-caused climate change, implementing policies that roll back environmental protections and withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump says “drill baby drill,” something that Musk now apparently endorses. 

Neither Musk nor Peterson mentioned climate change or the climate crisis once during this very long interview.

Musk’s recent statement that Trump’s promise to end the electric vehicle (EV) mandate will hurt his competitors more than Tesla says it all.  

We Need a Strong Leader

Musk argues for the need of a strong leader, particularly in dealing with international adversaries. He states, “I think there’s something to be said that America needs a strong leader, that we have the perception of strength.” 

Musk believes this perceived toughness is crucial in international relations: “If you want a leader who’s going to deal with some very tough cookies out there, who’s going to deal with a [Vladimir] Putin or Kim Jong-un or China. Yeah, China. They will be… They’ll think twice about messing with Trump.”  “I think they will be intimidated by a guy who was fist-pumping after getting shot.”

It was Trump that initiated selling lethal weapons to Ukraine after Obama had refused to do so (Biden continued Trump’s policy). Musk is profiting from the Ukraine war through contracts with the Pentagon and Poland for supplying Ukraine with his satellite internet company Starlink. One of Trump’s other major backers, Peter Thiel’s company Palantir, has major Pentagon contracts for AI support for the Ukraine war. In spite of Trump’s statements about ending the war in a day or with a phone call, there’s no guarantee U.S. policy will change very much.

If Trump actually does help bring the war to an end, that would be a good thing. But given that he is surrounded with hawks who want a full-blown trade war and preparations for all-out war with China, there is no reason to think Trump’s strongman bluster will make the world any safer. 

What Musk really wants is Trump’s new “Iron Dome” promised in his acceptance speech at the GOP convention. A new anti-ballistic missile system, which in all likelihood will lead to massive contracts for Musk’s SpaceX and his AI company, xAI. This will be a gigantic boondoggle gift to the tech billionaires that back Trump. Aside from the fact that these systems are highly unlikely to work, a new ABM system combined with Trump’s reckless bravado is a recipe for stoking fear in China that an American nuclear first strike is possible. Far from being intimidated by another “madman,” this could lead to uncontrollable escalation over Taiwan, even to nuclear war. 

The “Woke Virus”

A deeply personal motivation for supporting Trump also appears to drive Musk’s political stance. In the Peterson interview, he shares a painful experience related to gender transition issues: “I lost my son, essentially. They call it deadnaming for a reason. Yeah, all right. The reason it’s called deadnaming is because your son is dead. My son, Xavier, is dead, killed by the woke mind virus.” He follows this with a vow of retribution: “So I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that. And we’re making some progress.”

Musk’s characterization of his daughter’s transition as being “killed” is a grotesque abandonment of his child. His daughter responded to this Peterson interview by saying he was never there for her as a father, and he was fully aware of what was involved in the procedure when he signed the transition papers. Instead of reflecting on his role in estranging his daughter and apparently several of his other children, he blames “woke” Democrats. He is clearly furious, conflicted, and some how finds some solace in backing Trump. 

The Corporate Democrats

Now, I am not suggesting that the Democratic Party offer real solutions for working people. In fact, the Corporate Democrats’ opposition to more systemic reform, even the modest proposals from people like Bernie Sanders, helped create the conditions for the rise of Trump. From Clinton to Obama to Biden, the financial, tech, and arms sectors have grown by leaps and bounds, and the billionaire class thrived.  Economic and political inequality grew under their watch. There has been some modest constructive climate, antitrust and pro-union action under Biden, but not enough to change most people’s daily lives. 

Biden contributed to making the world more dangerous as he refused to take NATO off the table prior to the illegal and barbaric Russian invasion of Ukraine, and he continues to prolong the war while making a fortune for American arms manufacturers, but at the cost of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian lives. Bidens done nothing to slow down a nuclear arms race that threatens all life on Earth. 

Biden’s pledge to militarily defend Taiwan goes against decades of American ambiguity on the question and increases the threat of confrontation. 

We don’t know yet if Harris will depart from Biden’s policy in any substantial way, but based on her track record, there’s no reason to think she will. 

All that said, there’s no question in my mind, Trump and his techno-military-industrial-complex-billionaires are a much more bellicose threat. 

Conclusion

What Musk and Trump want would make life far worse for workers and the poor. It will make organizing more difficult. Their plan to make billionaires even greater will push the world into climate catastrophe, closer to nuclear war, and into an AI hell. 

Musk may get his “freedom to operate,” but Trump promises an authoritarian crackdown on the left and unions. Of course, it’s all dressed up in a techno-libertarian language of meritocracy and free speech. 

In the end, Musk’s Trump love is simple: it’s about more power and wealth for billionaires like himself. His high-minded talk, a very dangerous game of holograms and AI hallucinations (and for the techno uninitiated, I mean smoke and mirrors).