A split the regime

I’ve been watching the Musk/Twitter events with interest.

So far the revelations have only confirmed that which the observant person already knew, and which some others would refuse to acknowledge even if angels descended from the heavens and trumpeted based tidings into their ears.

I assume my reader is already up to speed and needs no further explanation. If you’re not, go see Elon’s account to read the relevant threads, plus the other WrongThink he’s been uttering over there.

But keep your pants on. Elon is not quite One of Us. He seems like a moderate leftie of circa 1990. I don’t think this is a defensive guise; like other renegades from the Liberal World Order, he doesn’t hold any beliefs that would offend an ordinary person, only an overeducated scold.

This is a man who makes electric cars.

His rockets are cool, though.

Elon’s business seems entwined with the security state, but it is unclear who is more dependent on whom. We may soon find out.

I remind the reader that Elon got in trouble with the SEC more than once for apparently tweeting dodgy information about Tesla, and got away with defaming a cave diving rescuer who he called Pedo Guy (after the man refused his mini-sub as a dumb idea).

He is a brilliant, glass-hearted, capricious, vindictive and difficult man. The kind of guy who’s great for running Twitter but would probably be the housemate from hell.

I doubt many of my readers are strongly pro-Elon. I’m not.

However, we have good reason to support what he’s doing.

As discussed in an earlier post, Machiavellian political theory holds that the greatest extent of freedom and justice prevails when the elite is split. That is, when there is a genuine opposition.

Throughout the Western world, official opposition parties have failed to fulfil this role. There has been no sustained, spirited and organized opposition to Woke, trans mania, Covid hysteria or creeping techno-tyranny – nor was there any effective opposition to the War on Terror from the left.

A few local leaders may have resisted here and there, but overall the political parties that ought to have fought policy blunders instead tagged along behind, calling out ‘wait for me!’

Nor has there been any major opposition from the rest of civil society. Large media outlets follow the regime line. Churches are quiet. Unions are tame. Civil rights organizations have mostly been coopted, Wikipedia has been silenced and big business (especially big tech) is going along with it all. Academia is leading the charge.

And now, suddenly, there is opposition. One small part of Big Tech is openly facilitating the release of information that strongly contradicts the regime narrative. Its leader is openly rejecting the shibboleths expected of his class.

Republicans look on, stunned, as a lone man outside the party does their job for them.

It may be small, but it is effective in breaking the fugue of accepted opinion – a fugue that Trump’s lack of concrete action barely put a dent in, or perhaps strengthened through reaction to his elite-reviled but sadly ineffectual administration.

The regime is embarrassed. Our rulers are mostly too ashamed to respond directly aside from occasional snark. The media ignores or obfuscates the story, as though they are afraid to touch it. Some of the worst offenders have gone strangely quiet. Their sanctimonious arrogance has taken a hit.

This is what an Opposition looks like.

It would be better if it were bigger. Elon needs some elite allies. Elon-against-the-world isn’t going to overturn much.

However, it is a good start.

I said that readers should support Elon. How would you do that, though? Buy one of his shitty Teslas?

A better idea would be to get on Twitter, follow Elon and like his based tweets. This is a vain and capricious man – as someone on Twitter noted, kind of like a Greek god. He craves worship and approval. He is easily bored and requires entertainment. It makes a difference to a man like that whether his daring comments attract 10k or 100k likes.

Remember, it is the existence of an opposition that helps protect us from arbitrary rule, not the virtue of that opposition. Elon could be twice as flawed as he is and still this turn of events would be a good thing for us.

Consider it this way: if Elon somehow became President for Life and started instituting bizarre laws, it would make sense for us to support the most effective opposition to his rule, even if that was The Squad or the Neocons.

It is in the balance of power that we can find peace, and hope to be left alone.