Elon Musk Forgets History

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Facebook Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window)Bluesky Share on X (Opens in new window)X Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard Save 0 Comments Add Daily Kos to Google Elon as Caesar(AI image from Reddit) I met a traveler from an antique landWho said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:And on the pedestal these words appear:“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.

— Percy Shelley, “Ozymandias” (1819)

Elon Musk’s apparent decision, likely at Donald Trump’s behest, to limit Ukraine Starlink in the middle of its existential war with Russia, is going to be the last straw for many nations looking to not just Starlink, but anything this man has decision-making powers over. It has laid bare, for all to see, the national security risk of outsourcing crucial capabilities to a wayward and unpredictable trillionaire.

For quite some time now, Elon Musk has been visibly heading towards one of the oldest and most predictable outcomes for any person who assumes wealth and power are all that matters. Namely, forgetting that power comes in many forms, not all of which are linked to wealth, and many of which have no relationship to it at all. Prominent among these is the natural desire of human beings to live safely.

By agreeing to a Trump Administration demand, Musk has now shown not only that he will bargain away the lives of Ukrainian civilians in exchange for continued favor with the mighty, but that in his cost-benefit calculation human lives come out on the short end. In other words, faced with the choice between more dead Ukrainian civilians and being fenced out of the access to Trump he needs in order to grow even more rich and powerful himself, he chose more dead Ukrainian civilians.

The Polish Foreign Minister already fired the first shot across Elon’s bow yesterday, warning him that not only his Polish customer (who pays for Ukraine’s access) but all of his European customers, are watching. What value are national security contracts with companies run by a man who will violate them at his whim for his other perceived interests? I realize this sort of thing can happen in business, but rarely when it so obviously leads predictably high mass casualties of innocents.

The scenarios write themselves. Russia decides to initiate conflict with NATO by sending soldiers in unmarked uniforms into Estonia. NATO decides to retaliate, but suddenly discovers its Starlink services have been cut off. NATO soldiers and Estonian civilians die. It turns out Putin made a few phone calls. Or China decides to take Taiwan and Taiwan defenses get overwhelmed as Starlink goes down after China’s leader hits the speed dial to Musk.

There is a larger lesson here of course, one often made by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and many others – that allowing such concentrations of wealth pose not just issues of economic fairness, but real national security risks. In a sense, Elon Musk is doing everyone a favor. He is illustrating Bernie’s arguments.

Far from being a genius, Musk has shown on numerous occasions that his mindset has evolved into megalomania. He is taking what used to be a humorous saying – that at a certain point great wealth turns into “F U money” (meaning one can buy oneself out of or into any situation) literally. He should have already learned lessons from his unsuccessful attempt to buy state supreme court elections a year or so ago. He will learn more November 3, as his quarter of a billion burns in an failed attempt to keep GOP control of the US Congress.

The pushback has already begun. And it won’t stop. Elon’s actions won’t be forgotten. Ukraine and its allies, as they watch Ukrainian men, women and children get buried under Russian drones and missiles, won’t let them be. It adds to the pile that includes the destruction of USAID (and the thousands of lives lost in developing countries thereby).

The Big Man (as the Polish Minister called him), will learn what others of his like found out all through recorded history. Something that used to be whispered into the ears of a new Caesar of Rome every time he took power.

Respice post te! Hominem te esse memento! “Look behind you! Remember that you are a man!”

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