Over the past few months of the Trump presidency, there have been a couple aspects that have been alarming. Firstly, Trump has expanded the powers of the executive branch to an immense degree. Filing numerous executive orders over education and immigration, it is clear that Trump doesn’t seem to be concerned with the pushback from the legislative branch of government. Although some local and state courts have attempted to overrule his executive overreach, it is unclear whether any will be successful in the aftermath.
The second is possibly a more prescient matter that will affect America in the years to come; particularly surrounding foreign policy and financial corruption. Present at President Trump’s inauguration were more than a few tech billionaires who have great power over the information landscape in America. To name a few, the CEOs in question were: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Shou Zi Chew, and a host of other tech entrepreneurs who have created tech companies with mass influence across the world. This in itself is a problem for the health of a stable democracy. Although money and corruption are a consistent aspect of a country as powerful as America, having a few of the richest people in the world brazenly in the pocket of the President is something of concern.
The problem is that in a capitalist system as successful as the United States, the hyper-wealthy holds the most power, especially when the executive in charge doesn’t hold faith in founding documents such as the Constitution. This creates a vacuum where people with the most wealth hold the greatest influence and, therefore power in the country.
This brings us to Elon Musk, who, up until the campaign of Donald Trump and the purchase of X (formerly Twitter) was somewhat of an outsider to politics. Musk (in my view) was an inherent good to America, progressing our advances of clean energy and space exploration to its highest standard. However, when a person like Musk with such wealth and influence steps into the realm of politics, there starts to be a problem.
First was Musk’s strong endorsement of Trump. To the tune of a multi-million dollar endorsement, the tech billionaire campaigned for Trump at multiple rallies, often claiming that “If the democrats win there will be no more elections.”
This was concerning on its face, yet after Trump won, Musk took a considerable position inside the Trump administration. Upon Trump’s election Musk announced that he would be spearheading a new governmental associate DODGE (The Department of Government Efficiency.) Generally, governmental reform is something that I wouldn’t be opposed to. However, Musk has taken significant steps to make his prominence felt outside of DOGE and within the ever-expanding executive branch.
Besides the fact that Musk seems to be present at about every quarter press briefing in the Oval Office and is constantly seen with the president at one of his various Mar-a-logo estates, Musk was also seen earlier this weekend getting a tour of the Pentagon and being granted access to high-level security details. The New York Times has reported that Musk was given access to preeminent battle plans in the event of a war with China. The article suggests that Musk has been in favor of channeling our military funding for space defense to protect American satellites. Although this may or may not be the best use of our defense budget is a question I’ll leave up to experts in the subject who are far more educated than me. However, the general premise of an unelected multi-billionaire who was never sworn into office, nor elected by representation getting access to highly classified information spells a dangerous precedent for the future of American democracy.
While I don’t agree with everything the left-wing advocates for within the political system, the one critique I’ve always stood in agreement with is that the massive wealth gap that has become present in our country is a serious problem that must be addressed. In a world where a small subset of the population has more wealth than they could spend in hundreds of lifetimes, we must be hyper-vigilant to not let these individuals gain significant political power without representation from specific constituencies. Billionaires who have no moral or ethical obligation to the United States of America or its future should not be controlling the levers of power that affect ordinary people. People are inherently selfish and will undercut and harm others to advance their self-interest. This is why politics must be a litmus test, where politicians are selected by the people who are most vulnerable to the effects of greed and selfishness at the highest levels of power. It’s also why (despite what many on both the political right and left will tell you) virtue, ethics, respect, and deference to political norms and documents are so vitally important.
Even though widespread cynicism surrounding “traditional politicians” is somewhat warranted, I’d trust an individual who builds grassroots support and speaks about politics through a moral lens, over a few billionaires who only seem to care about American interest in so far as it pertains to their businesses prospering and their net worth expanding. This in my view, requires a far more skeptical eye than the traditional politician who doesn’t have a financial stake and multiple Americans’ business that the government could either help or hurt.
The ever-expanding power and influence that Musk has accrued must be monitored closely. Due to the fact that Musk hasn’t been elected nor sworn into office, we are taking him on his word and pocketbooks that he’s an honest actor when it comes to aiding the United States. However, within the next decade if China manages to gain significant leverage over America as the world’s biggest and most prosperous economy, would Musk’s allegiances change? If it were significantly more profitable to help the Chinese would Musk sell top-level information? These questions are merely speculatory but certainly something to protect against. We must remember as American citizens that oligarchy is a very real possibility in a country as wealthy as the United States. We must not let this possibility come to fruition.
