Elon Musk IS the Power Elite

 

     In the growing technology world, Elon Musk has been at the forefront with his creation of the Tesla, the first modern electric car to be globally successful. From this point of creation, Musk has only grown in popularity and money. Musk's economic power had further allowed him to have persuasion in both a governmental domain and in the militaristic domain. In this picture, Elon Musk is pictured to be standing in front of two notable companies that he founded. Yet, something that I had noticed about these two company logos, specifically, is how sophisticated and futuristic both of them are. The logos are something that is very telling for Musk's personality, as he has large ambitions about projects that he plans on carrying out to continue challenging the odds of current technology. 

    In C. Wright Mills' The Power Elite, Mills discusses the idea of the structural condition and how it allows the elites to have power even if they are not officially elected into an office or born into a position of power. Something that is also notable to highlight in Elite Power is the importance of the three major keys that help to analyze the power elite. Mills discusses that it is important to understand how those in power are alike based on their social type such as the same origin, education, and style of life in some capacity (Mills, 1956:19). Mills then discusses how the power elite are also likely to be interconnected and share similar interests that allows them to continue holding a greater sense of power. Finally Mills discusses how the three higher domains, economic, militaristic, and governmental must all have coordination to display this sense of unity amongst themselves and to society. Finally from Mills, I think the quote that had resonated close to why I had chose to look at Elon Musk is defined as,"...institutional mechanics of our time have opened up avenues to men pursuing their several interests, many of them have come to see that these several interests could be realized more easily if they worked together..." (Mills, 1956:20). 

    In connection to Mills, I think that Elon Musk very much displays this idea of being a power elite. For one, Musk has a higher education background as he had gone to the University of Pennsylvania, an ivy league, and graduated with a degree in physics. Famously, ivy leagues are known to have connections with people who amass large sums of money and are able to hold more power as their wealth accumulates, in the same way Elon Musk has. His upbringing and education through the University of Pennsylvania is just the start of how Elon Musk was able to generate his own wealth and start using this power to overlap and stay connected with the two other domains. As the quote on page 20 by Mills highlights, those with more money are able to also pursue more interests of theirs alongside other positions of power when they work together. An example of this is Elon Musk's company of SpaceX. As NPR highlights, SpaceX is a company that solely makes American rockets and has allowed astronauts to go to the international space station, thus, the United States government provides SpaceX with a lot of federal aid. Musk's creation of SpaceX allows the United States to, independently, send people to space without the help of international relations. However, as a return, the money that the government provides is what allows Musk to continue to be interconnected and keep his status as an elite. In the current times of international wars, Elon Musk has also provided armies with StarLink, a system that allowed the frontliners to communicate with one another and gain intel about Russian plans. However, a key component to this ordeal is the fact that at any point, this power that Elon Musk had with StarLink was that he could take it back and cause the war to turn in a completely different direction. But with the help of the government working out a deal with Musk, they were able to start paying for the uses of StarLink. Thus, the militaristic power that Musk has continued to grow as technology becomes a key factor in international wars. Beyond this simple fact, Musk continues to be intertwined with the government and economic domains as the government heavily relies on Musk technologies and are even willing to pay for its uses. 

Whether people are a fan of Elon Musk or not, he is still a power elite and a force to be reckoned with no matter the circumstances. 

Ian. January 02, 2024. “Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship: Ambitions for Interplanetary Travel.” PressFarm. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://press.farm/elon-musks-spacex-starship-interplanetary-travel/).

Mills, C. Wright. 1956. “The Higher Circles.” Pp.1-21 in The Power Elite 

Myre, Greg & Bobby Allyn. 2023. “What Elon Musk's involvement in politics means for the world.” NPR, December. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://www.npr.org/2023/12/07/1217973763/what-elon-musks-involvement-in-politics-means-for-the-world).