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By Patrick Carroll*
Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition saga saw new developments last week, as Musk reaffirmed his original offer to buy the company for $54.20 per share, a price that puts the company’s value at a whopping $44 billion. After the original deal closed in April, Musk tried to back out in July, alleging that Twitter was misrepresenting the number of bots on its platform. Twitter sued Musk to force him to go through with the purchase, and both parties were set to go to trial on October 17.
It looks like that trial won’t be necessary, as Musk is basically giving Twitter the price he had promised. Twitter’s stock price shot up 22% on the news, and many now have renewed optimism (or fear) that Musk will follow through with the purchase and end up introducing less restrictive content moderation policies on the platform.
The relaxed billionaire
The $54.20 figure is notable for two reasons. First, it is a bit higher than Twitter’s stock price at the time of the original offering (around $40 per share). Second, in a classic Musk move, it appears to be a reference to 4/20.
Although Musk has not confirmed the reference as far as I know, it is hard to believe that he fell into that kind of number by accident.
Aside from being funny, there is almost a sense of mockery in this move. By inserting these kinds of figures into official documents – and, by extension, major headlines – it’s as if he’s mocking the clown world that Twitter has become. His message to Twitter executives is not “please sell me your company.” Rather, the message is “this is all a joke to me, lol.”
This is not the first time Musk has brought his playful, irreverent, meme-culture spirit to the market. A few years ago he launched his car into space because he thought it would be fun, and some of his companies now accept Dogecoin as payment.
Overall, Musk seems quite fun, affable and relaxed. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, and that’s probably a big part of why people like him.
Another reason he’s so likable is that he doesn’t mind making fun of politicians, executives and other “blue verified account” elites. On the contrary, he seems to enjoy it.
Examples abound of Musk mocking the elites.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2020
Stop hitting on me, I’m really shy ☺️
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2022
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2022
Seriousness and censorship
Musk’s casual, low-key demeanor stands out in part because it is unexpected for someone of such high status. In a sense, Musk is almost at odds with typical elites. His unabashed informality puts the rigid seriousness that usually characterizes the rich and powerful to shame.
Elites tend to consider themselves the guardians of professionalism and decorum, etiquette and political correctness. They can have fun, up to a point, but memes and potentially offensive jokes are beneath them. Even the simple act of joking is frowned upon.
As a personal matter, this standard does not represent a big problem, but it is a rare elite that considers this a purely personal matter. In the eyes of most elites, everyone must abide by high standards of political correctness or else be forced out of the conversation.
This is the basis of the censorship problem we are seeing in social networks and in culture in general. Superficially it’s about freedom of expression versus content moderation. But at its core it is a battle between those who take the establishment and its morals seriously and those who don’t. There are the elites who insist that we be “respectful” of others, and there are the Elon Musks who are fine with leaving things as they are.
Comedians have been especially hard hit by this “high-minded” censorship, and no wonder. Think about what comedians do. They make fun of people. Sometimes they even offend people. They say what everyone thinks but no one can say. They intentionally flirt with the line of political correctness, because that’s what makes them funny.
“There has to be a spontaneity and a boldness,” says Jordan Peterson, “so they’re always testing the boundaries of what’s acceptable in discourse, and they’re almost always doing it in a way that points to uncomfortable truths in one way or another. Things that people don’t want to admit. Things we keep hidden in the dark. The weaknesses of our leaders. Anything that’s out there but makes people too uncomfortable to talk about, that’s exactly what a comedian focuses on.”
“That’s part of what’s troubling about the state of discourse in the free West,” Peterson says in another conversation. “Comedians don’t go to college campuses. They don’t get to be funny. And if you can’t be funny, then you’re not free. The king’s court jester is the only one who can tell the truth. And if the king is so tyrannical that he kills his jester, then you know the bad king is in charge. And when we can’t tolerate our comedians, it’s like, well, there you go. It’s the canaries in the coal mine as far as I’m concerned.”
How to weaken the elites
The question is how to combat the insistence on political correctness. How to deal with moral busybodies who meddle in matters that are none of their business?
At first, it’s tempting to confront them on their own terms, politely and logically state our case and ask to be left alone. And sometimes that can be the right thing to do. But often, a much more effective approach is to do what Elon Musk does: become the fool.
Instead of taking the elites seriously, the fool uses wit, humor and satire to highlight how ridiculous the elites have become. He employs clever mockery and tactful mischief to question the authority of the elites. When done well, this approach can be brilliantly effective. There is a reason that jokes about politicians were banned in the Soviet Union.
Liberals aren’t worried that they’ll be censored on Twitter. They’re worried that their ideas will be debated.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 30, 2022
The story of the Weasley twins and Professor Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is one of my favorite examples of how mischief and mockery can be used to expose and embarrass those who take things too seriously. As you probably know, Umbridge was committed to formality and order, and imposed strict limits on fun and games. Now, the Weasley twins – the Hogwarts jesters, so to speak – could have responded with hostility. They could have written angry letters, signed a petition, and gone through all the proper channels to get him dismissed. But instead, they threw a party in the middle of exams, making a complete mockery of his seriousness. They gave him the one thing he couldn’t stand: fun. And wasn’t that more powerful?
If I had to guess, Musk’s plebeian sense of humor is probably a big part of the reason the establishment can’t stand him. They don’t mind someone challenging them through the proper channels and in a respectful manner; actually, that’s playing into their hands, because it admits they are deserving of respect in the first place. What they can’t stand is to be taken lightly, to be teased and ridiculed and, ultimately, to be ignored.
Why can’t they stand it? Because our reverence for the elites is actually the source of their power. They win as long as we take them seriously. They lose the moment we don’t.
Patrick Carroll has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and is an Editorial Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education.
Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)