Obviously upon reading the title of the piece my response was "both, actually!" But true to form, reading the actual essay provided a lot of nuance and substance to my initial reaction.
He’s like a 5 yr old saying a mild curse word in Kindergarten. He knows it’s wrong but gets such a thrill from saying it. But the novelty wears off of the first word and no longer gets a reaction so he moves on to stronger profanity, and then slurs. The more he says them, the more he agrees with them. So he convinces himself he’s actually more evolved than decent people who are repulsed by hate, declaring himself the King of Free Speech.
He could be doing so much good in this world with his obscene wealth.
This is brilliant: "On the contrary, using Nazi symbols to demonstrate contempt for norms and to signal dominance over the left and marginalized people is precisely how Nazis use those symbols. It’s what those symbols are for." 👏👏👏
A person can be either strong on the inside or strong on the outside. Pick only one.
The more a person, like musk, needs to denigrate others, the more he reveals how weak he is on the inside.
trump, muskox, hitler, and (fill in your favorite trumpite) all are hollow souls, black holes inside that forever try to fill the void.
There simply is no reasoning with them because they do not live in the domain of reason.
“Peace for our time,” said British prime minister Neville Chamberlain in 1938. He failed to understand how weak Hitler was on the inside, and thought that he could reason with Hitler.
The same can be said of trump’s followers, who are so weak inside that they identify with someone strong on the outside.
More of this dear Noah please! Also, I wonder if there any propaganda studies people looking at Harry Frankfurt's theory of bullshit (understood as communication that prizes manipulation and persuasion above truthfulness).
Useful analysis. If this was not a Nazi salute, Musk can say that. He hasn’t. He has smirked at the backlash but continues to wink at the far right who are seeing exactly what this is. In other words, if self described Nazis think you’re a Nazi, there’s a very good chance you’re a Nazi.
His life background is one of extreme, political racism. Given his family, and where he grew up he was likely to have been raised by people who believed the Nazis were right and good, or at least not too bad. So, OK—he believed them. He would likely not have known anybody who was not a white racist as a child. The feeling of white South Africans seems to be that their world collapsed to a significant degree when apartheid ended, even if many of them remain very rich. They feel very sorry for themselves, by all accounts, and believe they were badly treated. They made their peace with the situation perhaps, but many don’t fully accept it.
There’s no evidence it was his initial life goal to be political, and enable Nazis, but now he is seeing that certain obstacles exist to his will in the form of democracy, this democracy extends formal rights to everyone, and people he was taught to despise are very vocal in their belief that his will should be curtailed. They make trouble for him in the form of discrimination lawsuits, and are generally lumped with his enemies, people who would criticize or regulate his businesses or stand in his way in getting the government funding he wants. The neo-Nazis don’t think like this. Nor does the right. They think he is great, and superior, like themselves. In addition, he has eugenicist ways of talking, and of living his life. In addition, he seeks to fireproof his economic power, which violent actors who believe he is on their side could be helpful with.
I’m going with ‘yes, he’s a neo-Nazi’ because what makes someone a neo-Nazi can be different than what made someone a Nazi when the Nazi Party was an organized political force. It is a matter of embracing a belief system. It simply seems like the best explanation for everything he has done, and there’s no evidence I can find against it. He’s been talking like a Nazi, he’s been helping Nazis whenever he can, and he has never once done a single thing to make a whit of trouble for the Nazis. In addition, the Nazis mainly need scapegoats. Naturally, they despise the Jews but there are lots of people they despise. They can shop around for the time being, and Musk has certainly been adept at that. He talks like a Nazi, and now he seig heils like a Nazi.
Asshole or Nazi? Why not both?
Says not mutually exclusive literally immediately, did you not read the first sentence of the essay before commenting?
It's fine! I think people are just riffing.
Haha i'll chill then!
Obviously upon reading the title of the piece my response was "both, actually!" But true to form, reading the actual essay provided a lot of nuance and substance to my initial reaction.
He’s like a 5 yr old saying a mild curse word in Kindergarten. He knows it’s wrong but gets such a thrill from saying it. But the novelty wears off of the first word and no longer gets a reaction so he moves on to stronger profanity, and then slurs. The more he says them, the more he agrees with them. So he convinces himself he’s actually more evolved than decent people who are repulsed by hate, declaring himself the King of Free Speech.
He could be doing so much good in this world with his obscene wealth.
fwiw, I do think he genuinely hates Jewish people (and Black people, and trans ppl, and women...)
This is brilliant: "On the contrary, using Nazi symbols to demonstrate contempt for norms and to signal dominance over the left and marginalized people is precisely how Nazis use those symbols. It’s what those symbols are for." 👏👏👏
A person can be either strong on the inside or strong on the outside. Pick only one.
The more a person, like musk, needs to denigrate others, the more he reveals how weak he is on the inside.
trump, muskox, hitler, and (fill in your favorite trumpite) all are hollow souls, black holes inside that forever try to fill the void.
There simply is no reasoning with them because they do not live in the domain of reason.
“Peace for our time,” said British prime minister Neville Chamberlain in 1938. He failed to understand how weak Hitler was on the inside, and thought that he could reason with Hitler.
The same can be said of trump’s followers, who are so weak inside that they identify with someone strong on the outside.
Musk is a fucking asshole.
Again, your writing gives pause and informs. Thank you.
More of this dear Noah please! Also, I wonder if there any propaganda studies people looking at Harry Frankfurt's theory of bullshit (understood as communication that prizes manipulation and persuasion above truthfulness).
A lot of people have discussed Frankfurt in relationship to Trump; I mention it in this piece: https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-time-magazine-interview-2024
Thanks for this!
Useful analysis. If this was not a Nazi salute, Musk can say that. He hasn’t. He has smirked at the backlash but continues to wink at the far right who are seeing exactly what this is. In other words, if self described Nazis think you’re a Nazi, there’s a very good chance you’re a Nazi.
His life background is one of extreme, political racism. Given his family, and where he grew up he was likely to have been raised by people who believed the Nazis were right and good, or at least not too bad. So, OK—he believed them. He would likely not have known anybody who was not a white racist as a child. The feeling of white South Africans seems to be that their world collapsed to a significant degree when apartheid ended, even if many of them remain very rich. They feel very sorry for themselves, by all accounts, and believe they were badly treated. They made their peace with the situation perhaps, but many don’t fully accept it.
There’s no evidence it was his initial life goal to be political, and enable Nazis, but now he is seeing that certain obstacles exist to his will in the form of democracy, this democracy extends formal rights to everyone, and people he was taught to despise are very vocal in their belief that his will should be curtailed. They make trouble for him in the form of discrimination lawsuits, and are generally lumped with his enemies, people who would criticize or regulate his businesses or stand in his way in getting the government funding he wants. The neo-Nazis don’t think like this. Nor does the right. They think he is great, and superior, like themselves. In addition, he has eugenicist ways of talking, and of living his life. In addition, he seeks to fireproof his economic power, which violent actors who believe he is on their side could be helpful with.
I’m going with ‘yes, he’s a neo-Nazi’ because what makes someone a neo-Nazi can be different than what made someone a Nazi when the Nazi Party was an organized political force. It is a matter of embracing a belief system. It simply seems like the best explanation for everything he has done, and there’s no evidence I can find against it. He’s been talking like a Nazi, he’s been helping Nazis whenever he can, and he has never once done a single thing to make a whit of trouble for the Nazis. In addition, the Nazis mainly need scapegoats. Naturally, they despise the Jews but there are lots of people they despise. They can shop around for the time being, and Musk has certainly been adept at that. He talks like a Nazi, and now he seig heils like a Nazi.
Now I get it. He is both. Thanks Noah.
¿Porque no los dos?
Si.