Tesla’s CEO is the world’s richest man, with an estimated fortune of $233 billion.
Elon Musk openly uses his influence to sway public opinion.
The billionaire and CEO of Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc. Report regularly shares his positions, emotions, and anger with his more than 102 million Twitter followers. When he’s down, his millions of adoring fans and fans ask him what they can do to help.
Such was the case recently, when Musk denied having an affair with Nicole Shanahan, the wife of Google co-founder and friend Sergey Brin, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to the WSJ, the alleged affair would have caused a schism in the two tech titans’ friendship.
On July 24, Musk responded on Twitter, “This is total bs.” “Sergey and I are friends who attended a party last night! I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times in large groups. Nothing romantic here.”
“This year’s character assassination attacks have reached new heights, but the articles are all filler. I work crazy hours, so I don’t have much time for shenanigans “Musk also stated “None of the key players in these alleged wrongdoings were interviewed!”
“Call them out on it, I guess. WSJ is supposed to have a high standard for journalism and, right now, they are way sub tabloid,” Musk responded. “WSJ should be running stories that actually matter to their readers and have solid factual basis, not third-party random hearsay.”
This exchange demonstrates Musk’s influence over millions of people worldwide. He is aware of his growing influence outside of economic circles. He wishes to change the world. The billionaire does not see himself as a business leader, but rather as a visionary whose mission is to do “useful things for civilization,” as he put it.
One of those useful things is most likely a new philosophy at a time when most dominant ideologies (capitalism, communism, liberalism, social democracy, socialism, and so on) are failing. The covid-19 pandemic demonstrated their limitations, while the emergence of new ideologies such as wokism and its various counterparts such as ESG (social, environment, and governance) is contentious. Opponents of the latter ideology, including Musk, see it as discriminatory and call it cancel culture.
The serial entrepreneur believes that in the absence of a unifying ideology, it is time for a new philosophy to emerge. And he has a thought for this one: “curiosity about the Universe.”
He detailed it on Twitter in response to a message posted by Sam Altman, a young entrepreneur, investor, and blogger.
He then expanded on this concept in a separate post, outlining the main guidelines.
Essentially, this ideology is impervious to cultural and political influences. It ignores ideological differences and current divisions in the United States and elsewhere. This philosophy appears to transcend these issues in order to impose one thing: curiosity. It’s almost a post-divisional or post-current philosophy. Musk appears to believe that the desire to discover other planets will heal old wounds and bring people together.
It’s worth noting that he uses the word “philosophy,” which elicits less passion than “ideology.”
And, in order to reach and persuade as many people as possible, the billionaire added that his philosophy was not incompatible with God or religion.
This is not a minor addition. Musk has become a conservative hero after declaring that he will vote Republican in the midterm elections and that his preferred candidate for the 2024 presidential election is Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
His recurring criticisms of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party have greatly increased his popularity in conservative ranks even though Musk, the man of science, has never really spoken about faith publicly.
