I'm writing this comment almost a month later, and the number of times I've seen that salute is frankly stomach churning. You can't open a website with any algorithmic f***ery, which is almost all of them nowadays, and not see that. Still. Almost a month later.
My take is Musk is a salesman. Always has been. He sells to VCs and investors normally, and his gestures are usually not scrutinized this much by the general public. Further, most of his salesman existence has probably not been while operating on as much drugs as he has been lately. I think he was trying to pull off a derivative of the Laura Ingraham 2016 RNC move.
I wouldn't be surprised if some Cambridge Analytical type told him that when Ingraham did it, whether she intended to do it the way she did or not, it didn't affect those who already disliked her or Trump strongly. Or liked her or Trump. Instead it had a desired effect on a small, but crucial, type of alt-right supporter. The ambiguity was just enough that those who wanted to see it, did. Also the ambiguity conflates something everyone normally agrees is bad, fascism/nazism, with something normally everyone can agree is subjective, the interpretation of gestures. This conflation can thus erode our collective vigilance against fascism and authoritarianism.
Musk, though, was high as a kite and not a polished television personality. Thus, I think it was intentional, and I think his intention was to make it slightly ambiguous, and I think, and hope, it backfired.
Though what I really hope for is an awareness by the general populace of the non-gestural actions that occur and matter. Which are unambiguous. DOGE is threatening the life of every (non-billionaire) American, simply by taking away the fairly cheap protections we have to live free, safe, healthy, and happy. And probably threatening everyone on Earth, regardless of financial and regional status, or if they were foolish or manipulated easily enough to vote for Trump.
I'm writing this comment almost a month later, and the number of times I've seen that salute is frankly stomach churning. You can't open a website with any algorithmic f***ery, which is almost all of them nowadays, and not see that. Still. Almost a month later.
My take is Musk is a salesman. Always has been. He sells to VCs and investors normally, and his gestures are usually not scrutinized this much by the general public. Further, most of his salesman existence has probably not been while operating on as much drugs as he has been lately. I think he was trying to pull off a derivative of the Laura Ingraham 2016 RNC move.
I wouldn't be surprised if some Cambridge Analytical type told him that when Ingraham did it, whether she intended to do it the way she did or not, it didn't affect those who already disliked her or Trump strongly. Or liked her or Trump. Instead it had a desired effect on a small, but crucial, type of alt-right supporter. The ambiguity was just enough that those who wanted to see it, did. Also the ambiguity conflates something everyone normally agrees is bad, fascism/nazism, with something normally everyone can agree is subjective, the interpretation of gestures. This conflation can thus erode our collective vigilance against fascism and authoritarianism.
Musk, though, was high as a kite and not a polished television personality. Thus, I think it was intentional, and I think his intention was to make it slightly ambiguous, and I think, and hope, it backfired.
Though what I really hope for is an awareness by the general populace of the non-gestural actions that occur and matter. Which are unambiguous. DOGE is threatening the life of every (non-billionaire) American, simply by taking away the fairly cheap protections we have to live free, safe, healthy, and happy. And probably threatening everyone on Earth, regardless of financial and regional status, or if they were foolish or manipulated easily enough to vote for Trump.