Why Elon Musk's Stupid Midterms Tweet Matters

He embodies the ruling class backlash that is powering the looming electoral catastrophe.

Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

I swear I didn’t intend to mention Elon Musk today—we’ve all been thinking about him a little too much recently—but then the bastard decided to weigh in on Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Twitter

Let’s set aside the fact that this is a stupid comment. Musk is stupid! I’m not interested in his tweet because of his stupidity. I am interested in it because it fits in so well with the prevailing ethos of the two years that have transpired since the last time we did this whole voting thing.

VOTE VOTE FUCK*ING VOTE YOU ANIMALS!!!! VOTEEEE OR ELSE !!!1

Musk may be uniquely annoying, but he is merely the latest example of a ruling class that has been on hyperdrive ever since the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd led masses of people to start thinking seriously about how to create a more just future. Over the past two years, the people who run this country—and I include people like Musk in that group—have been working hard to restore their version of order to America, and to discipline the rest of us into putting away our childish notions of a better world. And Tuesday’s elections—the ones that Musk eagerly hopes restore the GOP to its former dominance—could very well be the ultimate proof of how successful they’ve been.