Elon Muskthe American entrepreneur of South African origin, is not only the richest man on the planet but also the last representative of those “Heroes of Capitalism” who have given the tone and substance to modern civilization by bringing it out of the shallows of the poverty of the many and the privilege of the few. Heroes who have fulfilled their task not despite the contradictions of their being and behavior, but precisely by virtue of these: if in fact capitalism has a meaning, in my opinion, it finds it more than in a questionable “liberal ideology”. in its ability to adapt to the contradictions and ambiguity of life itselfand therefore to continuously create, through its “animal spirits”, the conditions for regeneration under ever new forms of that energy or driving force which human history needs to move forward.
It matters little if the hero entrepreneur believes, like Musk, in the virtues of social and palingenetic improvement of the human being, or in other utopias or amenities of the kind: what is important is the quantity and quality of the energies deployed or set in motion . Which is precisely what has fallen asleep in Europe and (in part) in the West in general, and in Italy in particular. The ideology of “politically correct”, with all its notions and radicalisms (from cancel culture to queer ideology), is, in some way, the periphrasis and parody of this decline, perhaps more than decline, or drowsiness of our civilization. Which well explains the hostility immediately shown by our culture and by the Ursulian-driven European Union towards a visionary and innovator, a lucid “crazy”, like Musk. Qualities that God knows how much they would be useful to an Italy that once had them in full dose and which today is struggling with obstacles and difficulties of all kinds, and in a general “discontent”, to put it mildly Marcello Venezianiwhich has never been our figure.
So another “irregular” did well, this time from Italian politics (therefore detested on the left), that is, the Minister of Infrastructure Matthew Salvinito seize opportunities and manifest interest in our country (where he has been twice in recent months) of Elon Musk, among other things, in these days he is being targeted for the “libertarian” turn that, as the new owner, he wants Twitter to do. And a significant question and answer took place right on Twitter: to Musk, who, commenting on Salvini’s statement on the intention to invite him “to invest and open in Italy”wrote that he can’t wait to meet him, the League leader and deputy prime minister replied by saying that it would be a pleasure and an honor for him (“the doors of my ministry are always open for you”).
In fact, Salvini’s political intuition had long ago led him to “pay attention” to the public outings of the founder of Tesla and SpaceX. He had appreciated both the promise to remove “Trump’s Stupid Ban” once Twitter has been conquered, both the stance on our country’s demographic crisis (“Italy will depopulate if the falling birth rate is not reversed”), and still clean nuclear campaign (“just this morning – Salvini said during the electoral campaign – that genius Elon Musk reiterated that saying no to nuclear power is madness for the security of nations and the protection of the environment”). Up to hailing the definitive takeover of the social network a few weeks ago as a victory for democracy and freedom. What is to be hoped for now is that we move quickly to the facts: it is people and “shocks” of this type that Italy badly needs to restart or be reborn!
Corrado Ocone, 20 November 2022