Arrogance really comes from insecurity, and in the end our feeling that we are bigger than others is really the flip side of our feeling that we are smaller than others. Desmond Tutu
While some of James Bond’s movie scenarios involved undercover spying with foreign governments, several involved spying on rouge, power-seeking entrepreneurs. One of the early movies was Goldfinger, about an enormously wealthy, confident, multi-national villain named Auric Goldfinger. In most James Bond movies, enemy governments are portrayed as powerful but clueless, while antisocial, wealthy villains are portrayed as highly intelligent but supremely arrogant.
As much as we all root for successful entrepreneurs who benefit society and pay their taxes, most of us have an instinctual revulsion for characters like Auric Goldfinger. Capitalism is based on fair competition. Sadly, because American oligarchs are beginning to control the American government at most levels and in most states, our political system is being transformed from a democratic republic into a kleptocracy, like Russia. A kleptocracy is a government controlled by a few oligarchs who legitimize criminal activities to become even more powerful. America became perilously close to a full-blown kleptocracy during the Robber Baron era around 120 years ago.
Kleptocracies are easier to install and maintain in countries without a democratic tradition. They spring up naturally from poor, underdeveloped countries but also emerge from more developed countries that lack a robust democratic culture. America was able to retard the development of oligarchic kleptocracy when the Robber Barons overplayed their hands. Since America had a reserve of civic justice and democratic belief, many reforms were instituted that moderated the expansion of unfair competition and unbridled power in the hands of a few oligarchs.
The emerging 21st-century American Robber Barons are a loosely confederated group of investors and entrepreneurs who use their connections with governments and other barons to rig the system. I say this without any academic or scientific equivocation. Anyone who has observed their behavior over the last fifty years should know this. They have different backgrounds and even motivations, but their modus operandi is strikingly similar. They find ways to manipulate the system to acquire more power and wealth. Beginning with Nixon and Reagan, they routinely denigrate the world created by FDR after the Great Depression. They either outright purchase newspapers and other media outlets or subsidize the others. Through think tanks, college scholarships, and job placements, they provide seeds and gardens to grow politicians, judges, and media types. After their seeds bear fruit, they harvest their human investments and plant them in the optimal positions to carry their water. The 2010 Supreme Court decision (Citizens United) allowed unlimited money to flood American politics. It is no secret that wealthy oligarchs now threaten to “primary” any Republican who goes against their wishes.
The Trump Administration and its oligarchs are rapidly dismantling the American government and replacing America’s separation of powers, rule of law, and fair competition with an oligarchic form of government that will, if unchecked, become a kleptocracy.
If history is our beacon of hope, the oligarchs’ arrogance and greed will be their undoing. Arrogance leads to carelessness, overextension, and opposition from within and without their society.
South African Elon Musk is a case study of his future fall from his imaginary mansion in outer space. There is no need to rehash or list the evidence of his arrogance. He stutters on about government corruption while taking billions from the government. He is anti-working class, which is one of Trump’s key constituencies. He pushes AI, which is a job killer. He wants to eliminate all road transportation jobs (e.g., taxi, truck, delivery drivers, etc.) with driverless trucks and cars. He wants to destroy the Social Security system. With all that, he could not understand why so many people wanted to burn his cars. He is likely to say that all this hatred is an artificial cabal generated by that communist, George Soros, the favorite bogeyman of the far right. Any reflective person can see Musk’s future demise. Aside from Tesla’s apparent decline, his whole empire will crumble in the coming years.
Musk built a house of cards, and when he realized that his cards were beginning to tumble, he decided to proactively reach out to the government to save his empire. Ironically, his carefully crafted PR campaign projects the image that he is helping the government while only helping himself.
Like any compulsive megalomaniac, Musk has a singular focus on something. For Goldfinger, it was gold. Musk appears to be driven to seek more control over us and to “bring human consciousness to Mars,” whatever that means. He seems to believe that the Earth has been despoiled and that we must recreate humankind on a virginal, pristine planet. I am not a psychiatrist, but his compulsion to leave the boring, ruined Earth to go to Mars is bizarre. While exploring Mother Earth was and continues to be exciting, explorers must only contend with Earth’s weather, flora, and fauna. Among the many challenges to exploring Mars is its lack of a global dipolar magnetic field. Solar and cosmic radiation will be difficult for humans to overcome in the near term. As a science fiction devotee, I long for the day we can establish experimental stations on the moon and Mars. However, the goal of establishing a colony on Mars by 2022, 2024, 2026, or 2030 is senselessly foolish and delusional.
Elon might be a very successful technological entrepreneur, but as someone who purports to know how to recreate a society on Mars or in the USA, he is like an eight-year-old boy. He clearly knows nothing about history, culture, psychology, or politics. He has the mind of a maniacal engineer. Unless the Republican Party and the judiciary cave into Trump and Musk’s worldview over the next 20 months, Musk’s foray into the government will end. His activities will leave permanent scars, but eventually, someone will say “No” to the petulant eight-year-old.
The mounting failures of his businesses compound his foolish attempt to modify the American government. While Tesla was the premier electric vehicle (EV) for years thanks to government loans and tax credits, Musk’s recent transformation from a progressive technologist to a modern-day Robber Baron has severely damaged the Tesla brand. Musk’s favorite Tesla truck (or whatever it is) has been an abysmal failure. Aside from its bizarre shape, it has been recalled several times to remedy design flaws. In the span of a few months, Tesla owners worldwide have regretted their purchases and now face a groundswell of animosity toward them and their vehicles. Potential buyers are looking elsewhere for an EV. Musk’s Tesla sales projections are exploding like his Starship rockets in South Texas.
In addition to Musk’s self-inflicted wounds to his Tesla brand, his Starlink brand will plummet despite Starlink’s recent success. The Starlink customer base increased rapidly; by 2023, Starlink’s revenues were $7.7 billion. Until Musk’s transformation into a rightwing monster, many domestic and foreign entities lined up to subscribe to Starlink.
The first sign of trouble appeared when Musk threatened to turn off Starlink for Ukraine. Musk had been discussing transferring Starlink service from Ukraine to Russia, which was a startling revelation since Ukraine is dependent upon Starlink to combat Russian aggression. Likewise, when Musk began to take an axe to the federal government and turn into a clownish DOGE oligarch, people stopped buying Teslas, and governments and corporations began to boycott Starlink.
To cite a few examples, all the major airlines were prepared to use Starlink for in-flight internet communication and entertainment. However, Musk’s ongoing behavior caused virtually all negotiations to be suspended. The wealthy Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim recently canceled a $7 billion Starlink contract.
In addition to losing customers due to Musk’s odious personal behavior, Starlink has competitors like Eutelsat. Musk plans to reduce the cost of launching Starlink satellites using the Starship rockets. Unfortunately, his Starship rockets continue to experience a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
In conclusion, it is becoming apparent that Musk’s desperation for money to support his Mars addiction has driven him to steal more money from US taxpayers. He appears willing to extract money from the poor and elderly to support his habit. His smoke screen is his Department of Government Efficiency, a fig leaf organization covering his hidden motives. Someday, James Bond will confront a fictional version of Elon Musk. Writing the script will take some time because the truth is always stranger and more complex than fiction.
