What if we have been reading the Musk story wrong?

What if we have been reading the Musk story wrong? What if the story of Musk isn’t an economic — or to some, an innovation — story at all? What if it isn’t a story about entrepreneurship or vision or personal failings at all? What if, instead, it’s a story about the potential of a full-scale action against a democratic nation-state? These thoughts are still very much developing, but let me lay out a few considerations: We have the richest man in the world engaging very openly in politics, or more specifically, in the ongoing culture war. He’s an active participant, but with his takeover of Twitter, he has also gained ownership and control over an important node in the global information infosphere. He has removed that media platform from more benign — or at least, less intentional and directional — ownership and governance. And he has been actively exerting his influence on the platform, from changed governance roles to reinstating formerly banned rightwing extremists to abandoning…