Say No to Democrats and Republicans: Elon Musk steers Americans away from the Big Two

Elon Musk, in recent tweets, has positioned himself as the political consciousness of the United States. While spreading himself across the Republican-Democrat spectrum (which isn’t much of a spectrum) in campaign finances, the billionaire now seems disillusioned by the duopoly in American electoral politics.

While Musk’s politics might confuse casual observers- given that he has a nearly even split in donations to the Republicans and Democrats- a closer look provides some clarity. As per the Independent, a sizeable portion of donations were to state legislators across the electoral divide in California and Texas, states in which he retains business interests.

Also Read | Why Elon Musk ‘can no longer support Democrats’

In any case, Musk’s unpredictable streak was on display in a series of tweets made hours apart. While first denouncing the Democrats, vowing to only vote Republican from here on, he performed a partial about-face, suggesting the need for moderation between both. What this moderation implies for the whimsical, perhaps drug-addled billionaire boils down to the wealth he accumulates.

This should come as no surprise, given that he has expressed remarkable consistency on issues concerning the economy. Take, for instance, his disregard for lockdown measures, effectively denouncing the threats posed by Covid-19 in the process. Arguing for greater ‘normalcy’, going as far as labelling lockdowns as ‘fascist’, Musk revealed his bourgeois anxiety of lost production and unrealized surpluses.  If the world couldn’t get any stranger, Musk echoed the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben in downplaying the threats posed by the virus. If the billionaire compared the coronavirus to the flu, the philosopher went a step further by pointing to cardiovascular threats as a greater threat to human health. 

Also Read | Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover: A complete timeline of events

Irrespective, It is worth asking if he will pour his billions into creating a third front to rival the Democrats and Republicans. While he flip-flops on acquiring Twitter, one wonders if the founder of Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company is just royally bored and is merely dipping his fingers into whatever pie is in front of him.