The Shire Folk
I've just finished listening to a 3 part The Economist podcast on conservative American views of modern Britain which appear to be disproportionately influenced by Elon Musk's media empire. The title of the series - The Shire Folk - references Musk's strange conviction that the "real Britain" resembles The Shire of J R R Tolkein's fictional Middle Earth in which the childlike Hobbits (read Brits) require protection from dark forces by "strong men" such as Rupert Lowe and "Tommy Robinson". Musk himself is apparently a ketamine-fuelled Gandalf benificently handing out millions to his chosen Hobbits.
Got me thinking about how different things may have turned out if the world's richest man had cultural reference points slightly more sophisticated than those of an average 15 year old adolescent? What if he were similarly enthused by the even richer literary depictions of Dickens, Shakespeare and Chaucer? Certainly doesn't harm to read more widely.
Accompanying the series was a 90 minute interview with Musk by the editor of The Economist. Noteable mainly for Musk's clear discomfort at having to explain and justify his foundational opinions, it also contains a hilarious section in which he claims to know more about contemporary Britain despite not having set foot there since 2018 (there would be serious questions raised about his visa eligibility given his active promotion of violent racial disorder on X) than the journalist who has spent a 40 year career living in and reporting on the country. Also he did not seem able to explain why a foreign billionaire should be allowed to influence another country's democracy so fundamentally simply on a personal whim.
I used to find Musk intrigueingly enigmatic. Now he just seems depressingly banal and, to be honest, not particularly intelligent.
Got me thinking about how different things may have turned out if the world's richest man had cultural reference points slightly more sophisticated than those of an average 15 year old adolescent? What if he were similarly enthused by the even richer literary depictions of Dickens, Shakespeare and Chaucer? Certainly doesn't harm to read more widely.
Accompanying the series was a 90 minute interview with Musk by the editor of The Economist. Noteable mainly for Musk's clear discomfort at having to explain and justify his foundational opinions, it also contains a hilarious section in which he claims to know more about contemporary Britain despite not having set foot there since 2018 (there would be serious questions raised about his visa eligibility given his active promotion of violent racial disorder on X) than the journalist who has spent a 40 year career living in and reporting on the country. Also he did not seem able to explain why a foreign billionaire should be allowed to influence another country's democracy so fundamentally simply on a personal whim.
I used to find Musk intrigueingly enigmatic. Now he just seems depressingly banal and, to be honest, not particularly intelligent.
41-45, F
