Elon Musk and His Parasitical Con Game

By David Starr

There was film that came out of South Korea titled, “Parasite.” Mr. Slick, i.e., Elon Musk, said he liked the film. Actually, the film was interesting where a poor family clung on to a rich one, desparately trying to take advantage whenever they can. It apparently was a film that emphasized class conflicts and what one would do in such conflicts.

 

But the only thing that the film had in common with Musk was the title, “Parasite.” Yes, most people know that’s what Elon Musk is. His place in the Trump regime allows him to impose “free” market opportunism, where many would experience hardship from the financial chaos. The impression given is that Musk has been trying, or still tries, to throw his weight around in the regime. 

 

There was an article that came out in Medium in October 2024 that skewers Musk thoroughly in its content and tone. Dash McIntyre pulled no punches as he accused Musk of wrecking “the Twitter algorithm, and turned it into a brainless zombie of a social media platform feeding parasitically off of the deranged neuroses of moronic echo chamber conspiracists so that regular users’ ‘For You’ pages have become cesspools of Musk’s egomania.

 

“I also see nonstop pro-Trump video excerpts from conservative podcast bros I have never heard of and immediately dislike. Algorithmically this makes no corporate sense. [When has the corporate behemoths made sense?] Twitter should try to feed me content I want to see in order to keep me on the platform and hopefully clicking on digital ads their analytical teams promise customers should interest me.” [Here, McIntyre sounds a little full of himself.]

 

But he makes a blistering point when he writes, “Elon Musk has installed America’s first 1984-style propaganda screen,” adding that “Musk’s masturbatory attention-seeking and carnivalesque politicking for Trump,” may prompt users to switch to another platform if that’s not their taste. While Musk may have a right to run Twitter (X?, Hell no.) like a carnival-barker, he pushed the “Internet fascists and foreign troll farms to reelect Donald Trump.”

 

McIntyre writes that Musk has a dream of establishing an “everything app” like China has. But then he goes into an anti-communist tirade, writing of a “social media environment of a Leninist communist dictatorship personalized around an increasingly authoritarian ‘Dear Leader.’” It sounds like McIntyre doesn’t have sufficient knowledge on China, like many others who make a lot of baseless claims about that country. There are shades of gray, like anywhere else. 

 

And the use of the word, “communist” may reveal that McIntyre has insufficient knowledge of what that is. For one thing, it really hasn’t existed. An epoch takes decades or even centuries to be established and developed. Thus, it can’t be done in 74 years, about the amount of time the Soviet Union existed. Simply put, Stalinism is the main culprit of the repression that occurred in the USSR in the late 1920s to the early 1950s. 

 

An important point McIntyre makes is that “the Musk family has admitted he immigrated to the [U.S.] illegally. It’s a paradox that Donald Trump is going full Hitler in his stated commitment to start a military force to deport illegal immigrants…”

 

McIntyre does make valid points about Musk, and in his own satirical way. He definitely has a way with words.

 

In an example of blatant opportunism, Musk took legal action against a corporate decision where an “illegal” conversion occurred from Microsoft and ChatGPT maker Open AI. OpenAI became a for-profit entity and Musk’s action has gained support from a court filing by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) not only to stop the conversion but to make sure no illegal moves are taken in the future. Strange, considering Musk has his own for-profit, private monopolies.

 

So, Musk’s lawsuit has been supported by the DOJ and the FTC. Isn’t Musk for a bare-bones government lead by the billionaire class? Musk is not fond of government interference but will use the government to take legal action against another corporation. Apparently, Microsoft and Open AI had members who were on both of the corporations’ board of directors, which is why the DOJ and the FTC supported the lawsuit to counter antitrust violations which would harm competition (or cutthroat competition under the rule of capital). 

 

Originally, Musk gained prominence with the help of government subsidies to help him with his business ventures like Tesla and SpaceX. So, Musk flip-flops on his stance with government “interference,” only when it serves his class interests. Musk also called people receiving aid from social programs “parasites” and thus probably fails to see the irony since he is the parasite. 

 

But let corporate board members and businesses sue each other. It could put them in a financial quagmire, and sow chaos for their private monopolies. 

 

Meanwhile, people are complaining about the Trump regime’s policies like trying to freeze the government; and those complaining include Trump voters. This presented on The Humanist Report. 

 

Musk asserts that OpenAI violated its original non-profit mission by accepting funds from Microsoft. Sounds valid, but what financial con games has Musk played in establishing his business empire?

 

Regarding that film, “Parasite,” Musk has been that very thing in his business dealings.