Edited OmarKN
-
A reminder that everything comes from Allah only:
{ Say (Muhammad), "O Allah , Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent."}
Quran 3-26
For a more in depth analysis of what is behind Musk's acquisition of twitter, it's best to read Jared Yates Sexton's original substack article. What follows is his twitter thread on this topic.[1]
- - - From here quoting Jared Y Sexton - - -
The core of the matter is completely overlooked. (It is about) what this represents (at this) moment in history.
The contradictions of capitalism lead to crashes and busts when the wealthy rig things too far. And they always do.
When the system collapses, their power is threatened. And they will do anything to protect it.
Elon Musk buying Twitter isn't about "free speech" or turning a profit.
It's about a robber baron acquiring a weapon.
History shows us exactly where all of this is heading. It's not pretty, but we have to look this thing in the face.
1/
Source: jaredyatessexton.substack.com
Historically wealthy capitalists like Elon Musk promote themselves as messiahs in order to stave off outrage. What happens when the illusion fades and all that's left is exploitation?
Predictably our media is missing the larger implications of the world's richest man purchasing one of the most influential communication hubs.
They're all talking about the user experience and economic implications while missing the larger role of power and wealth.
2/
Questions about whether Donald Trump will return to the site or whether there'll be this function or that function obscure a larger truth.
This site is about narrative-making and controlling stories and reality. It's nearly priceless for its ability to do these things.
3/
Musk's power is predicated on his ability to control his own narrative.
The idea that he is an iconoclast, technomessiah is what protects him from criticism and attempts to rein him in. That mythology is ruthlessly protected and spread.
Twitter will be an element of this.
4/
But what history warns us about is that when robber barons and the exorbitantly wealthy see their preferred mythologies interrupted and they become vulnerable to criticism and reform.
They turn to fascists. They turn to Nazis. They embrace authoritarianism.
5/
To really grasp what's happening, we have to dissect first the root of Musk's power and influence.
It's the promise of an infinite future. A paradise that he is creating and will only be created if he is allowed to accumulate as much wealth and power as possible.
6/
The utopia is one of the strongest weapons of the wealthy and powerful. It promises a heavenly existence if only they are allowed to do whatever they want without interruption.
It's a literal religious faith that protects their projects and wellbeing.
7/
Musk's Mars fantasy is a religious faith answering the fear of climate change.
It allows the destruction of the environment to continue, even accelerate, because this technoking will get off the planet in time.
If we just give him more power and more wealth.
8/
The fantasy of leaving the Earth is what helps some people cope with the imminent apocalypse of climate change and our current system's inability to answer the crisis.
Again, it is religious faith. And that illusion will both grow and crumble over time.
9/
Unfortunately, you probably won't make it to Mars. And even if you do, it'll be in indentured servitude.
But the fantasy and faith are designed to distract from answering the problem and instead accelerating accumulation of wealth and power with Musk.
10/
The construction of Musk's messianic stature is a particularly powerful project.
It inundates him from criticism and has created a massive cult of personality. The maintenance and expansion of that mythology is absolutely crucial to his continuing accumulation.
11/
Like robber barons of old, our new generation is purchasing media in order to bolster their own narratives and realities that serve their purposes.
Bezos bet on the Washington Post. Musk is betting on Twitter as the future of reality building. And he's probably right.
12/
Our modern robber barons are following the same paths as those who carried out industrialization.
These architects of the digital age are repeating the strategies of the past in a way that is disturbingly predictable.
It's a cycle. A recognizable cycle.
13/
In the same way robber barons took government funds and support to build empires that dwarfed the nation state, these new techno barons have effectively overwhelmed governments.
They own the system and have rigged it even further in their benefit.
14/
Unfortunately, the results are predictable.
The contradictions of capitalism lead to crashes and busts when the wealthy rig things too far. And they always do.
When the system collapses, their power is threatened. And they will do anything to protect it.
15/
In America, the crisis of capitalism was answered by FDR, who sought to rebalance the system before it devolved into fascism.
But despite our popular history, he wasn't celebrated or particularly welcomed by the powerful. He was opposed at every turn.
16/
The powerful and wealthy individuals and corporations in America banded against FDR, calling him a socialist and tyrant.
They fought him every step of the way and even fomented a potential fascist coup to overthrow him. This is what the wealthy do when challenged.
17/
To protect their wealth and power, these individuals and corporations even turned to paramilitaries in order to destroy union and populist movements, relying on violence, murder, and extralegal means to crush any resistance.
This happened around the world.
18/
In Europe, the industrialists reacted to the crisis by turning to authoritarians leading massive paramilitary organizations.
They relied on them to crush leftist uprisings, labor movements, and anyone questioning their power.
19/
It's disturbing to realize, but the usage of Far Right movements and their inherent violence has been a feature of these systems for a long, long time.
The emergence of anything that might unsettle the status quo and property leads to this. Everytime.
20/
Without fail, popular dissatisfaction with the status quo and the accompanying calls for reform and redistribution leads to the wealthy robber barons turning to demagogues.
Because they prefer authoritarianism over democracy or any challenge to their power.
21/
After decades of bloodless neoliberalism, the redistribution of wealth and power from the bottom up has created a crisis in the making.
Inequality and exploitation have gotten so bad that faith in the system and these prevailing narratives is all but nonexistent.
22/
Currently we are watching the discontent and disillusionment build in many different ways, including faux-populist movements like Trumpism but also in genuine movements like the burgeoning labor base.
As these grow, and they will, the wealthy will oppose them.
23/
The question isn't whether we're heading for escalating crises, but what form they will take.
Our modern robber barons will follower the same paths as their predecessors. Only now, they'll be armed with incredible weaponry to try and shape reality in their favor.
24/
Whereas robber barons relied on newspapers, radios, and other low-tech means, we now live in an age of social media, surveillance, and artificial intelligence that is in the sole possession of the exorbitantly wealthy.
25/
Twitter is a means of communication and narrative control, but it also makes for a hell of a surveillance mode.
This and developing methods of control and surveillance will be utilized by the modern robber barons as the situations changes and their mythologies fade.
26/
People want to pretend like these ideologies aren't at play, that you can't know what's in these people's minds, but it's very obvious where their loyalties lie.
We're approaching a crossroads, and it's time to get serious about what's at stake and what's happening.
27/
We're still living in an age of flimsy fantasies protecting power.
Those illusions are disintegrating as exploitation becomes more and more undeniable. History tells us what will happen when the bottom drops out and when space dreams turn to material nightmares.
28/28
The realities of today: that Musk and other exorbitantly wealthy capitalists are presiding over historical inequality and are intentionally, and restlessly, increasing that gap with every single second…
It’s no coincidence that Elon Musk has grown more and more fond of anti-liberals and their antagonism within the culture wars. The project he is carrying out, namely the concentration of capital, puts him squarely in alliance with the Far Right, which is gaining in power, influence, and authority…
As conditions worsen in modern times, these new robber barons will follow the same patterns. They’ll align with the Far Right in the face of populist uprisings and leftist challenges. They’ll find common ground in the racist, sexist, and classist ideas that will form new nationalist and disturbing faiths that seek to reinvigorate the illusions and mythologies that make it possible for men like Elon Musk to perform as technokings and messiahs…
- - -1: Three Sources:
Jared Yates Sexton,
more in depth:
- jaredyatessexton.substack.com
or short:
- Elon Musk buying Twitter isn't about "free speech"…
or short:
- JYSexton - twitter
↩
Related texts
The Myth of Progress, the Human Problem, and the Virtual Frontier, Jared Yates Sexton
As our societies become increasingly intolerable and we grow angrier, more isolated, and more radicalized, the wealthy and powerful are betting on technology to remove humanity from the equation.
Elon Musk, Twitter and reinventing the white saviour
The richest man on the planet is on a mission to save civilisation as we know it. But whose civilisation?
