Muskian Futurism

Abstract

Muskian futurism refers to a crosspollination of political perceptions, ideas and beliefs centred around the public persona of Elon Musk. In this paper, we explore these strands of thought – contemporary futurism, cyber-libertarianism, neo-reaction, white supremacism and personal self-interest – to situate Muskian futurism as a grouping of overlapping ideologies with a shared diagnosis of the world that runs parallel with other groups of similar influence over the second Trump administration. It is argued that this agglomeration of (pseudo)intellectual strands is distinct from nationalism due to its technological solutionism and indifference to Musk’s shameless pursuit of self-interest. Nonetheless, Muskian futurism represents a dangerous technocratic accelerationism committed to the absolute undermining of democratic institutions capable of enduring without Musk’s prominence.