Peter Pan
To title today's post, I used the opening words of the story of Peter Pan, written by J.M. Barrie in 1902. Peter Pan has been with us for a century, and now is in the public domain.
People will be writing about Elon Musk a century from now. He has shaken up the auto industry, social media, space travel, satellites, artificial intelligence, robotics, and brain science. He, too, is a careless, imaginative, creative boy who never grew up.
Musk is acting like Trump's undisciplined id, the entitled child inside the already-entitled narcissist child that is Trump. Trump and his MAGA followers delight in "owning the libs." Trump has contempt for the people MAGA has contempt for.
Rachel Maddow expressed shock at Musk's latest flurry of insults. Musk said the Saturday afternoon protests in 50 states are carried out by paid losers feeding at the public trough. Here are quick screen shots:
Does this make your blood boil?
That is the point. It displays Musk "not giving a F - - -," which Musk loves to do. The insult delights MAGA people who love owning the libs, and, who knows?, they can imagine some people really are paid; you can't prove a negative. The insult doesn't need to be even remotely true. It has "truthiness" to people who want to believe Democrats are lazy welfare cheats. It feels right, even if it isn't. So assert it. Let Democrats squirm at the insult!
Best of all, Musk's insults may provoke more vandalism. Musk needs that vandalism. Fox News is full of stories about intentional damage to Tesla vehicles and dealerships. It doesn't take many incidents to turn the story of mass protests into a story of Democratic vandalism.
Musk is taunting Democrats. He wants to be the sympathetic victim in the grand political dramas of the spring of 2025. He and Trump are in competition for the role of Chief Victim. Trump blames economic distress on the Fed, on the cheating Chinese, on weak-kneed Republicans, on bond market participants with the "yips," on snobby woke Harvard, and on the media. So many enemies. Tesla sales plummeted. Musk also needs a villain. Musk's enemies are Democratic vandals, stock sellers, and critics of his excellent cars. So many enemies.
Democrats need to be smart, not angry, but there is no practical way to control the odd vandal or arsonist. Democrats can condemn vandalism, and should, forcefully. In a matchup against Trump, the Democratic position is for the rule of law. Trump is the lawless one. Remember which side you are on.
There is a bigger peril for Democrats. Abrego Garcia is certainly a victim, but not necessarily a hero. Trump is taunting Democrats, showing off an image of Abrego Garcia's hand, with "MS-13" photoshopped in. It is dishonest, cynical, and manipulative. But Abrego Garcia-as-dangerous, or at least suspicious, fits the "truthiness" narrative for voters impatient with uncontrolled immigration. Trump knows what he is doing. He is daring Democrats to oversell him.
Democrats want this to be Trump's unjust effort to deport and imprison a good guy -- someone Americans can identify with. Arguments about "due process" have a sterile, academic feel. Our emotions lead us to care whether this is right or wrong, whether Abrego Garcia is safe to have as a neighbor or not, rather than whether it was procedurally correct or not. Trump will find something wrong with him even if he has to make it up, which he is already doing, joyfully and shamelessly. But he won't have to make it up. Everyone has something to criticize.
Trump and Musk have a superpower. We are fascinated by people who appear to act without the restraints and self-editing and conscience brought by adulthood. The richest man in the world and the most politically powerful man in the world can act out on personal will with no apparent concern about who they hurt and offend. They are free to be jerks. That is their power: They don't give a F - - -.
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7 comments:
Musk looks weak presenting as a victim and I view him as caring that Tesla stock has gone down so much. He doesn’t look like a genius to me so much anymore. Maybe even Trump cares that he is being viewed as incompetent and bad for the economy. Playing the victim role means your not in control.
Musk is South African and his mother is Canadian. He does not understand American history, culture or traditions. He has "at least 14" children from 5 women (married and divorced 2 of them), according to Wikipedia. How much money have his companies received from government contracts, subsidies and tax breaks? He is not a good role model for anyone. I feel sorry for his children.
Trump supporters say they like him because he says what they think. They should be ashamed, but they have no shame. They’re proud of giving him the power to ruin our economy, wreck our institutions and make hate fashionable. Musk is Trump’s alter-ego – just more of the same: more money, bigger ego, no social skills. If they have their way, it will become illegal to disagree with them.
Do average Americans like being attacked and insulted by an entitled, uber rich, white, South African geek? I don't think so.
Elon Musk is a terrible person. I've hardly seen any criticism of him with which I disagree, although I am inclined to leave his children out of the analysis.
I question, however, whether protests against Tesla are effective in conveying the anti-Musk message. If fewer cars are made, Tesla workers will earn less. If the stock goes down, the 401(k)'s of ordinary people will be worth less. The best estimate I have seen is that if Tesla stock dropped to $0, Musk's personal worth would be only $200 Billion.
A car or a showroom may be a convenient place to protest, but the results of a successful protest are not goals of mine.
No one has criticized his children, hello.
They aren’t the first and won’t be the last. Graveyards are filled with formerly rich and powerful men who cared for nothing except more riches and more power. But alas, they are merely mortal. The tragic thing is the amount of human suffering and death caused by them during their “reigns”. Also sad of course are the countless loyal sycophants who are both deceived and some even complicit in the carrying out the carnage (and becoming carnage themselves) caused by their leaders’ endless appetites for adoration and control.
I know many commenters here turn their noses up at the idea of spirituality in general and a veneer understanding of Christianity in particular. But I take the long view, and comfort in the notion that there is a just God who allows people to make bad and harmful moral choices in this life, but that ultimate justice will prevail. And that the most severe eternal judgement is reserved for those who wield the most power and influence - which incidentally causes me to be mindful of my own little domain of power and influence.
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