cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/40905844
With some prominent Democrats and liberal pundits arguing for the party to try to win Elon Musk back to its side, you have to ask: Is American politics simply a matter of who can best kiss the ass of narcissistic reactionary billionaires?
The problem is that if he funds things he’s going to trying to influence things to go to the right. He hates “woke”, believes white genocide is a threat, believes in suppression of free speech, hates regulation, etc…
I don’t think he believes any of those things. He’s a capitalist. He doesn’t care because those are rules. Rules do not apply to the rich like him. They’re just pieces on a game board they move around. He wants attention. Take advantage. Convince him to aid Palestine and they’ll all be eating cyber trucks in a week.
He absolutely believes in those things, and has shown multiple times he’s willing to light his money on fire to support his ideals. He’s idealistic (adjacent to the neo-fascist Dark Enlightenment movement), and not just simply motivated by wealth.
As a believer of white genocide there’s no way we can convince him to aid Palestine. Supporting Ukraine again, maybe.
I think guys like him can be convinced to action with some very petty motivations. But we just need methods to motivate