The Red Jackal

A modern day Icarus

When trying to compare what mythological Greek tragic figure would apply to Elon Musk in today’s world, I think about Icarus. Icarus was imprisoned with his father Daedalus, escaped from a prison with wings made by the father from molted feathers. Icarus ignoring his father’s advice flew close to the sun and the heat melted the wax that kept the feathers together and crashed to earth. Musk reminds me of Icarus as he flew too close to the political sun and came crashing back to reality.

As we all know, Musk is a modern day genius on par with past visionaries such as Alexander Graham Bell, Edison, Steve Jobs and so on. Everyone knows about Tesla but he has also reinvigorated the US space Agency (Space X) and has created ground breaking technology with Neuralink to help people that are handicapped.

Aside of his technological achievements, he has also brought to the forefront ideas such as free speech and how the government is run. With free speech, he purchased Twitter, cut it down to run more efficient and removed the ideological barriers that were in place to make it a true free speech platform.

As we all know from the previous year’s election, Musk joined in the race with the belief that the Republicans would tackle the deficit as well spending. He even sacrificed his time creating a new governmental organization to tackle inefficiencies and cut down government waste. Even though most of his recommendations were not implemented, people in America began to see the utter waste that is in our government.

Musk’s reward for all of this work: disdain, hatred, attacks on Tesla car dealerships and death threats. When the One Big Beautiful Bill was passed last week the number one thing in his mind along with many other conservatives was that spending was not addressed. Yes, there are some cuts but not enough to reverse the death spiral that is our national debt.

Musk’s greatest strength is is also his great weakness: his intelligence. People with Musk’s intelligence rarely listen to others as they think that they have all of the answers. Some of his criticisms are legitimate but the way he goes about it has ruffled too many feathers. To try and go above the Defense, Treasury and State Departments by implementing his vision of how these departments should be run instead of letting the department heads determining how they should be run.

Musk’s petulance when he does not get his own way also caused damage to his public image. When subsidies to electric vehicles and renewables were eliminated (two areas which he has a interest in) he went into full attack mode. Many were harmless but the one that cost him the most was when he insinuated that President Trump was listed in Jeffrey Epstein’s contact list: to accuse someone without any proof of being a pedophile was just too much for most people.

Cast aside, Musk is making an attempt to start a new party to take on the establishment on both sides. He might get some support but in the end both Democrats and Republicans are too entrenched in their respective parties to vote for a 3rd party. Maybe Musk is doing this to just to screw over Republicans as this new party might siphon support from the right just enough to influence an election race within a one point margin.

Personally, I would like to see a reconciliation between Musk and Trump. I think in the end they both have the same vision for America and would be good to align these visions between the two. I think for near future, Musk should take a break from the political limelight and concentrate on his business ventures. Unlike Icarus, he can soar again.