Apparently they did not teach anything about fascism in the schools Ross Douthat attended. This entire column is about Tucker Carlson's yearslong attempt to forge a red-brown alliance without mentioning the concept at all.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/opinion/tucker-carlson-fox-news-audience.html
@mattsheffield Serious question: what is Musk? Does he represent any greater threat than how he's been commonly described (troll, rich kid trying to buy friends, etc.)? Do his behaviors reveal anything more sinister about his psyche or intentions? I find a disturbing parallel between him and Trump vis-à-vis our naivety. Is there merit to this, based on observation/record, or is my worry a product of hyper-vigilance/fear in this time?
@WilliamRamsey I've examined Musk and people like him from a few different angles in Theory of Change episodes.
He's always been on the right, but earlier in his life, he seemed to think he was on the left, back when Bill Clinton was diverting Democrats with tax and spending cuts. He was a conventional libertarian who thought he was a liberal.
But once Dems (some of them) began returning to their party's actual ideology, Musk became radicalized and joined up w/self-described "neoreactionaries"
@WilliamRamsey Here are some links you might find of interest:
https://theoryofchange.substack.com/p/theory-of-change-051-elon-musk-cryptocurrency-a22
https://theoryofchange.substack.com/p/theory-of-change-057-david-golumbia-93c
https://theoryofchange.substack.com/p/theory-of-change-056-richard-barbrook-ced
https://theoryofchange.substack.com/p/theory-of-change-029-former-libertarian-5e1
@mattsheffield Just to follow, up Chris Lehmann made the observation in your podcast: "...people who are kind of sociopaths..."
I believe that true and critical to explore, because I believe personalities like Musk (and Trump, both cruel to degrees) are inherently harmful (dangerous) to society. I would also point to Jay Rosen and Wesley Lowrey's press criticisms in this regard.
@mattsheffield Sorry, just one last thing to consider. As with Trump, people know Musk is dangerous. Case in point. Yet they remain; and while I'm sympathetic to justifications, I do not think we can/will properly illustrate the danger of Trump(ism) without recognizing (and acting upon) that of Musk. They are related. I believe remaining on Twitter undermines one's arguments (and society), for it erodes (my) faith and makes going along with dangerous actors seem ok. People must know that too on some level, or be so persuaded.
