Elon Musk speaks with Cheese Hat in Green Bay, Wisconsin.Image: keystone
analysis
The richest man in the world unwittingly exposes the billionaires.
July 26, 2026, 09:57July 26, 2026, 09:57
After Elon Musk contributed around $300 million to Donald Trump’s election campaign and thus made a significant contribution to his triumph, he became overconfident. Everything seemed feasible or at least buyable, thought the richest man in the world. When a crucial election to the Supreme Court came up in the state of Wisconsin a little later, Musk not only put on a cheese hat, he also donated around $100 million to the Republican candidate – and lost badly.
Undoubtedly, Musk is a brilliant engineer and entrepreneur. Like Trump, he is also a pathological narcissist who believes he has to have an opinion on everything and everyone. He is currently running a hate campaign against “The Odyssey,” the film by Christopher Nolan. Because the beautiful Helena is played by a black actress and because Elliot Page, a transsexual actor, plays the warrior Simon, Musk sees not only the West in danger. He also predicted that Nolan’s film would be a huge flop.
The black actress Lupita Nyong’o plays Helena in the film “The Odyssey”.Image: keystone
That went badly wrong. “The Odyssey” is achieving record box office revenue and the critics are almost without exception enthusiastic. However, like Trump, Musk is incapable of admitting he was wrong. He now defiantly announces that he will present an AI-produced film by the end of the year that reflects the true odyssey. Musk carefully ignores the fact that Homer’s poem is a myth and that there will never be a true odyssey.
People have the strange ability to be brilliant in one area and stupid as pie in others. Musk is no exception. In a lengthy interview with The Economist, he once again makes it clear how naive and dangerous his political ideas are.
Musk believes that AI will surpass human intelligence in just five years. Within ten years, robots will do most of the work and create prosperity for all that was previously not thought possible. Money becomes irrelevant in this world. The government will simply hand out vouchers to everyone so they can get whatever their heart desires. (Did someone say unconditional basic income?)
Karl Marx also promised us a paradise of prosperity.Image: PD
All of this is reminiscent of the classless paradise that Karl Marx promised us. The father of communism also once dreamed that after the final victory of the proletariat, everyone would be able to shape their lives “according to their abilities and needs.” We’re still waiting for that, just as we can wait a long time for the affluent society promised by Musk.
Secretly, Musk probably doesn’t believe it either. Maybe that’s why he’s so eager to escape to Mars.
In the real world, Musk is currently playing a useful role, albeit unintentionally. As Paul Krugman writes in his column on Substack, his narcissistically charged behavior exposes the omnipotence fantasies of the super-rich.
Brief flashback: American billionaires have wanted to influence politics for decades. Well-known are the Koch brothers, who not only generously support the Grand Old Party’s campaign, but also keep conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation or the Cato Institute alive. In her book “Dark Money,” journalist Jane Mayer showed how this system works.
However, the traditional moneybags of the Republican Party generally stayed in the background. Johnny Sixpack didn’t know about their existence. “Today, however, the new generation of the super-rich is flaunting their influence. And the poster boy for this development is Elon Musk,” says Krugman.
This in turn has an effect, but not the one the super-rich wanted. 73 percent of Americans now believe that inequality has become a serious nationwide problem. The research, conducted by the University of Amherst, also shows that 58 percent of respondents believe billionaires have become a threat to democracy.
Musk’s clumsy behavior and the Trump family’s shameless, gigantic corruption have led to this rethink. And this rethinking is increasingly reflected in political reality. Democratic socialists are winning primaries all over the country, and with his idiotic Iran war, Trump will also ensure that they will be successful in the coming midterm elections.
That’s a good thing, or as Krugman puts it: “Elon Musk is anything but a popular hero. But his disgusting and unbridled narcissism may just save the American republic.”