I don’t disagree. If the Democratic Party plainly better served his material / monarchical interests, he’d talk up trans rights and start every meeting with a land acknowledgement. 1/

But the claim I think people like @mattyglesias.bsky.social try to make is that there’s some world in which people like Musk support the progressive values despite the kind of modest material costs an Obama would impose relative to Republicans lower taxes and greater deference. 2/

There might be a colorable case there for a lot of tech titans. But for Musk — and he’s hardly alone, there’s been a lot of toying with “race realism” in tribe gray for years, i swear i have some scars to prove it — it does not strike me as remotely plausible. 3/

These people have had strongly held views they’ve felt they had to suppress, and would have to suppress in anything remotely like the post-FDR Democratic coalition. 4/

They also like the freedom to do drugs and stuff, which they’d have had to suppress in the historical Republican coalition. 5/

But once a libertine, “race-realist”-curious, business (monopoly) friendly realignment occurred in the Republican Party, why wouldn’t they have jumped? (And that stuff precedes their influence, and is not down to Thiel. Trump done it.) 6/

The only real constraint was the values of their progressively college educated employees. But over the last two years, they feel they’ve acquired a whip hand there. 7/

So, jump they have. /fin

Suppose Elon Musk’s, um, hand gestures, his support of AfD, and promotion of replacement theory have persuaded you he has some interest or fascination with the historical Nazi movement. 1/

Musk has been fascinated by the number 420, which (4/20) is Hitler’s birthday but also a marijuana signifier, for many years. observer.com/2024/04/elon... 2/

Is your inference he recently became Nazi-curious, and previously had fetishized 420 solely over marijuana, or that he had some interest in Nazism for a long time and enjoyed the ambiguity and plausible deniability thay 420’s marijuana associations afforded? 3/

If the latter, is it plausible that the wealthiest and most influential figure in “tech” would have remained supportive of the Democratic Party and its racially, culturally, and sexually progressive values if only partisans had been less mean to tech? 4/

Or is it more plausible than any apparent progressivism was always feigned and as Musk’s wealth and power grew he would be emboldened to openly advocate for his views? 5/

We can’t know! In some counterfactual universe where the racially, socially, and culturally progressive party was also the low taxes on rich people and deferential to monopoly party, maybe Musk’s material interests would have overwhelmed his, um, “playful” fascinations. 6/

But in anything like the actual universe, I think the evidence suggests there was little hope the party both more economically and culturally progressive could have retained this person’s support if a more materially friendly, more racially “realist” party could champion his interests. /fin

God I want an edit button. Sorry for the typos.