Slobodian Analyzes Elon Musk’s Global Political Influence on Democracy Now
Quinn Slobodian, Professor of International History at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, appeared on Democracy Now to discuss tech billionaire Elon Musk’s expanding influence on global politics. His analysis explored how Musk’s wealth and social media platform are reshaping political discourse across Europe and the United States, with particular focus on recent developments in Britain and Germany.
Slobodian drew parallels between current political movements and previous far-right coalitions, noting the unprecedented scale of Musk’s influence: “If you think back to 2017, there was a lot of concern in attention to the efforts of Steve Bannon to create a kind of transatlantic Coalition of far-right actors and parties. Imagine now here we are, only a few years later and there’s a Bannon-like figure but who also happens to be the wealthiest man in the world.”
The interview highlighted Musk’s recent political interventions, including his support for Germany’s far-right AfD party and his controversial statements about British politics. Slobodian explained how Musk’s approach to politics mirrors his engagement with video games and online culture: “Musk has entered this field of Politics as a kind of scaled up version of his video game play with no real thought to the kind of consequences of the disruptive effects that he’s creating from here to Britain to Germany and Beyond.”
A significant portion of the discussion focused on Musk’s economic influence through Tesla, with Slobodian noting: “He oversees Tesla, which is a car company that is worth more than all the other car companies in the world combined… whose stocks are held in the portfolios of many many many Democrats who might otherwise find Musk as a person and his politics objectionable.”
Drawing on his expertise in international history, Slobodian provided context about Musk’s South African background and its influence on his worldview. He explained that “the experience of apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa has for them filled this role of a kind of a bad future which is also inevitable and from which they have to just do everything they can to kind of hunker down and shield themselves.”
The interview also addressed Musk’s recent alignment with various political figures, including his endorsement of El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele. Slobodian pointed out that Musk “celebrated Nayib Bukele, the leader in El Salvador, as having done something that has happened in El Salvador and will happen and must happen in the United States, which in El Salvador has been to imprison 2% of the adult population.”
Slobodian discussed how Musk’s influence extends beyond traditional political spheres into demographic politics, noting his recent shift in rhetoric around immigration and his endorsement of various far-right theories and politicians across Europe and the United States.
The full interview, which has reached nearly 400,000 viewers since its release, is available on Democracy Now’s website, offering viewers comprehensive insights into the intersection of tech wealth and global politics.
Quinn Slobodian is Professor of International History at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. He is the author of “Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy” and has written extensively about Elon Musk for the New Statesman. Read more about Slobodian on his Pardee School faculty profile.