Kleptocracy and Musk
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2022 8:48 am
Kleptocracy
Musk and Twitter.
As a society or system ruled by people who use their power to steal their country's resources.
It is in reality one form of Tyranny or extreme authoritarianism.
Best or worst exemplified by Russia and China today.
But it may be arrived at in a couple of ways – either by a regime taking over commerce and its ‘owners’, or by the capitalist owners taking over political power.
I the Western democracies, we have people who with luck and no doubt skill, creating commercial empires. They may use their monetary wealth to simply overpower and buy out other concerns. At this stage, with globalisation, we are not far from a clique of wealth and power to dominate government. Which is then kleptocracy.
It matters not that we have Musk taking over Twitter and promising ‘free speech’. Free speech does not denote a form of society, apart from freedom from any authority. Random free speech debases the ‘truth’ and removes trust in anything that is said, allowing any belief to take over. As opposed to authoritarianism that does what Russia-China is doing and creating its own ‘truth’. Altruist democracy is a fragile society that depends on suitable rules and laws to promote at least factual truth. If these cannot be formulated today and kept in force then it is almost certain that Kleptocracy will insinuate itself one way or another.
WE must avoid simplistic binary thinking – genuine ethical philosophy must be multi-dimensional, and ethical ambiguities used in isolation avoided – freedom, equality etc. Putin can declare a belief in equality and create a slave state.
Musk and Twitter.
As a society or system ruled by people who use their power to steal their country's resources.
It is in reality one form of Tyranny or extreme authoritarianism.
Best or worst exemplified by Russia and China today.
But it may be arrived at in a couple of ways – either by a regime taking over commerce and its ‘owners’, or by the capitalist owners taking over political power.
I the Western democracies, we have people who with luck and no doubt skill, creating commercial empires. They may use their monetary wealth to simply overpower and buy out other concerns. At this stage, with globalisation, we are not far from a clique of wealth and power to dominate government. Which is then kleptocracy.
It matters not that we have Musk taking over Twitter and promising ‘free speech’. Free speech does not denote a form of society, apart from freedom from any authority. Random free speech debases the ‘truth’ and removes trust in anything that is said, allowing any belief to take over. As opposed to authoritarianism that does what Russia-China is doing and creating its own ‘truth’. Altruist democracy is a fragile society that depends on suitable rules and laws to promote at least factual truth. If these cannot be formulated today and kept in force then it is almost certain that Kleptocracy will insinuate itself one way or another.
WE must avoid simplistic binary thinking – genuine ethical philosophy must be multi-dimensional, and ethical ambiguities used in isolation avoided – freedom, equality etc. Putin can declare a belief in equality and create a slave state.