How Elon Upstaged Donald
<p>Elon Musk accomplished a lot this week.</p>
<p>No, I’m not talking about the Twitter owner’s implementation of the <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/elon-musk-paid-twitter-checkmarks-parody-shutdown-misinformation-disaster-1234628243/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">8 dollars for a blue checkmark scheme</a>, his massive <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/11/09/elon-musk-how-not-to-fire-employees/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">reduction in workforce</a> before <a href="https://gizmodo.com/musk-twitter-layoffs-1849751286" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">rehiring many of them</a> the next day, or his proposal for a <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1586059953311137792" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">content moderation council</a> to judge and delete dangerous tweets. I’m more interested in how, by his own example, he revealed his own impotence as well as that of the social media star he replaced, Donald Trump. And in doing so, Musk has also revealed the inadequacy of any dictatorial approach to technology, business, or politics.</p>
<p>Let’s go through this fast, just like Musk did:</p>
<p>From the get-go, his decision-making process has been imperious, whimsical, lacking any coherent strategy or awareness of second and third-order effects, oblivious to the way choices externalize harm to others, and as performative as a businessman on reality TV. He played to the most sycophantic entourage of hangers on — all of them trying to win the attention of their cult leader. He came out of the gate — literally hours into his first morning as chief — <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/10/elon-musk-twitter-paul-pelosi-misinformation" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">spreading fake news</a> and defying all social norms.</p>
<p>And no, I’m not talking about Trump, but his replacement at the top of the Twitter troll pole, Elon Musk.</p>
<p><a href="https://rushkoff.medium.com/how-elon-upstaged-donald-599b36564d35"><strong>Learn More</strong></a></p>