Is Elon Musk's power a problem?
This post was written by a student. It has not been fact checked or edited.
British historical John Acton states: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This quote demonstrates how Elon Musk's power is a problem - a problem that could pose a huge risk to the lives of many individuals.
Elon Musk is a billionaire entrepreneur and is the world’s richest person - making him a very powerful figure. Musk has over 200 million followers on his social media platform X which allows him to easily redirect the trajectory of his followers’ thinking - making him very persuasive. In my opinion, I believe that this level of power is a problem; an example of this is during the American presidential election. During the election, Elon Musk used his social media influence to significantly encourage people to sign a petition for Donald Trump’s leadership (he did this because it would benefit many of his businesses). In exchange for people signing the petition, Elon Musk announced he would give away $1 million each day to a random person living in a swing state (of whom signed the petition). In November 2024, Trump won the election and appointed Elon Musk as his presidential advisor.
One way in which this demonstrates a problem with Elon Musk’s power is that it demonstrates how he is able to use his power and social media influence to influence the actions of his followers and therefore change the outcome of significant events (of which will affect many people). Furthermore, Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk as his presidential advisor solely due to his level of power and wealth (Musk lacks any substantial political knowledge). This demonstrates how Musk is able to use his power in order to heighten his career and be given roles that he may not be fully experienced for.
However, it can also be argued that Elon Musk’s power is not a problem as it can be used to inspire people and to promote positive societal changes. However, I believe Elon Musk holds too much power for one individual. Elon Musk’s power makes him very influential and makes people very susceptible to agree and follow his beliefs/instructions. I believe power should be held by a group of people/organizations to ensure that decisions are carefully made and will benefit society. After all, Elon Musk is only human and is bound to make mistakes - except his mistakes have the power to cause widespread issues.
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