Elon Musk’s newfound sympathy with Putin’s war aims and his alleged contact with the Russian dictator; Kanye West’s antisemitic outburst; Musk’s warm welcome of West back to Twitter.—All of these things are of a piece. What we’re really witnessing is just the reality of America’s ruling class, its actual vulgarity and kinship to the mob, becoming more apparent, less hidden. As Josh Marshall writes on Talking Points Memo: “Many of our would-be oligarchs in the United States seem quite attracted to the Russian strongman/oligarch model. It’s not just the authoritarianism but the way oligarchs operate within it. It’s part of the broader anti-democratic, authoritarian turn within a large swathe of the tech industry.” Elsewhere, I called this this ideology baasskapp, an Afrikaans word meaning essentially “bossism.” (It’s worth noting again that Thiel and Musk both spent formative years growing up in apartheid South Africa, witness to the ruthless domination of that society.)
This is not the first time Musk has tipped his cards. When it appeared that Evo Morales’s government in Bolivia looked like it was being overthrown in a coup, perhaps with lithium mining interests behind it, Musk tweeted, “We will coup whoever we want, deal with it.” This glib and flippant comment revealed his utter crudeness and cynicism. Musk was almost certainly not behind the coup attempt, but he probably wished he was. The only thing surprising about Musk’s expression of sympathy for Putin is that it took so long to become manifest.
Kanye West’s turn to antisemitism also should not have been surprising. Just to be clear, that is what is this was, full-on antisemitism: this is not mere provocation, or simple evidence of madness, or an expression of ignorant prejudice—this is precisely an expression of antisemitism an ideology, as a totalizing explanation for the state of the world. American society is largely unable to understand it in its full political significance and processes it instead as “mental health issues” or “offensive remarks” that can be apologized for. It is part of West’s broader turn to reactionary ideology, his embrace of Trump, and the Black-owned white supremacy of Candace Owens. It has a highly personal dimension, to be sure: this all comes as he experiences more and more frustration, with the eclipse of his artistic reputation, with the dissolution of his marriage, and the apparent failure of all his efforts at self-expression save music.
West fancies himself a titanic genius thwarted only by hidden forces. This is the classic pattern of antisemites: Who is responsible for all these shortcomings and frustrations? The Jews, of course. He is not the first artist to indulge in the vulgarity of antisemitism and to turn to its unavoidable hint of murder when all other resources for riveting the public attention seem to have been exhausted. West’s megalomanic ego-ideal is the perfect cultural expression of the values of the class Musk represents in the economic sphere: constant conquest, expansion, and acquisition. As he once rapped, “Let's have a toast for the douche bags/ Let's have a toast for the assholes/ Let's have a toast for the scumbags.” What can better now represent his calling?
Like West, Musk’s reputation as a genius has become tarnished as he revealed his actual vulgarity and idiocy, and in response to his loss of god-like status, he spitefully turns to fantasies of shoring up his power, to reaction. West stands to Musk and his like in a class relation as well: the artist is always just the highest rung of the servant class; he is there to entertain and to provide ideological support. In the same way, the professional antisemite works as both public distraction for and ideologist of the ruling class. Antisemitism is the obscene music of the reactionary bourgeoisie: popular in its appeal, but with power as its true subject.
The re-appearance of antisemitism, the apparent curiosity and tolerance members of both the public and the elite have for it, must be understood as part of the total political situation. Neither the left nor the right has grasped its actual significance yet. The left either responds hysterically with its usually ineffective scolding and handwringing or downplays it as a secondary issue compared to more pressing social concerns. The right says it’s actually an issue of the Left or points to their own Zionism as an alibi.
Antisemitism is both symptom and cause of broader social decline: it is the most pornographic and salacious part of reactionary propaganda, the sign of the abandonment of democracy in favor of demagogues and the mob, and it reveals the utter cynicism and vulgarity of the ruling class, its willingness to indulge in any irresponsibility that will perpetuate its dominance. Will antisemitism become the central ideological force that organizes the entire society, as in Nazi Germany? That seems to be highly unlikely, but it will do its part, with other forces, to further poison the political atmosphere and degrade public discourse; it will be used to alarm, menace, and, one fears, to organize public sentiment.
I’ll conclude with a quote from the historian Michel Winock, “Antisemitism is not only a moral and intellectual monstrosity; as an instrument of reactionary politics, it lies beyond notions of left and right, bringing together every form of racism. It is the negation of the pluralist society, the morbid exaltation of the national ego, and finally, one of the seeds of totalitarian barbarism.”
Young Elon Musk: "I want to become a titan of the auto industry. I want to be a new Henry Ford!"
Old Elon Musk: "Welp, if I can't make good cars, I can at least be an antisemite!"
For a long time, I've been thinking about what I like to call the Lindbergh voters -- the 20% or so of the American electorate in interior parts of the US, for the most part (although the largest numerical concentration may be in southern California), who think in terms of Lochner-era jurisprudence, hard currency, and America First foreign policy. World War II forced the Lindbergh voters into the background, although they are clearly evident in the McCarthy era. Reagan clearly appealed to them, although the Cold War muddied the waters; the Lindbergh voters were staunchly anti-Communist but were always uncomfortable with entangling alliances, etc. The end of the Cold War . . .
Antisemitism is a marker for the Lindbergh voter, most of whom are Protestant and, traditionally, lived in areas where there were few Jews. It's a marker because Lindbergh voters need a way to 'explain' why the world rejects their small-town vision, and conspiracy theories, including Antisemitic ones, have always filled that 'explanatory gap.' (Really since the Populist era.) I like the comparison of Antisemitism to pornography -- the most salacious form of something that starts with "New York banks" and ends with the Rothschilds . . .
The Lindbergh voters, who pre-date Lindbergh, aren't going anywhere. The problem for US politics is that in a 50-50 electorate, they have become effectively half of one of the two major political parties (half of a half). During the years of Democratic majorities, they were kind of an afterthought. During the Reagan years, when the Republican coalition was at its peak, they were a minority in that coalition and their concerns were suppressed by the Cold War (and economic growth). The GWB years, though, ran that coalition into the ground with the Iraq fiasco and the financial meltdown. Within the remnant, the Republican "rump" coalition, they are wrecking havoc.
Just like pornography, there will always be Lindbergh voters (and Antisemitism, alas). But it's the political situation that makes them particularly dangerous.