Elonomics: The terrifying reality of political money

Elon Musk recently sent shockwaves through the British political media by announcing his intention to donate £100 million to Reform UK. This is an example of the billionaire pseudo-fascism peddled by Musk’s political boyfriend Donald Trump and it poses a tangible threat to the UK’s democracy.

The wealthy and powerful have held political supremacy throughout history, and they have rarely tried to hide it. The Hapsburgs, Pitts, and Mountbattens all serve as clear examples of the political power of wealth throughout history. The Churchills, Bushes, and Kennedys serve as proof that little has changed in terms of the political influence of money and family.

Where money is usually used to keep everything the same, Musk is trying to change the political landscape

The recent reports of billionaire Elon Musk’s £100 million donation to Reform UK by the Guardian should seem far less worrying in the context of how overtly money has controlled politics for most of civilised history. Yet the depressing rise of reform UK and the power of Musk and his new fiery brand of economics have spooked even the most comfortable of armchair politicians, why? Because Musk is attempting the opposite of what wealthy players in politics usually try to do. Where money is typically used to keep everything the same, Musk is trying to change the political landscape.

Musk is using his enormous wealth to aid the rise of the new brand of right-wing politics that is currently sweeping the Western world. The rise of the likes of Trump, Orban, and Farage is scary to those who’ve known only the post-Blair centrist hegemony. The leaders who belong to the new anti-status quo right of politics wield powerful cults of personality for which the left has had no real answer. Despite the powerful rise of Trumpian politics the UK remains relatively unaffected in terms of central power. Our closest equivalent to Le Pen or Orban would be the wobble chin wonder, Nigel Farage, who currently leads a party of 5 MPs and essentially has no direct influence on policy. Farage’s Trump-style politics has the potential to threaten Britain’s democracy as Trump has the potential to do in America. The real danger of Reform UK does not lie solely in their right-wing orientation but in their approach to politics. Reform is not structured like a traditional party. Rather it is a registered LLC with Farage as the majority shareholder, meaning the party has no obligation to a democratic process of selecting leaders or reaching decisions.

History has shown that when the wealth of a few can decide the fate of political issues, democratic institutions suffer or even wither away

The idea of a £100 million donation from Musk is the first evidence of an outside attempt to aid the rise of the UK’s Trump-style movement and that is a sign of a terrifying threat to UK democracy. The rise of the neo-right wing in America, and around Europe has so far been attributed to a wave of discontent with centrists and liberals or the coalition of disenfranchised working classes, but this is evidence of something much scarier, outside right-wing elements attempting to directly spread influence abroad. That is why Musk has shown such fascination with reform UK, and that is why it is vital to block this donation. If it is deemed too dangerous to allow foreign billionaires to purchase British newspapers, then how can we justify allowing foreign billionaires to pump enormous amounts of money directly into our political system? Someone further to the right of the political spectrum might argue that I’m only arguing this because I’m a member of the radical left, a warrior of the “Wokerati” but this is not about political orientation. It’s about making sure that political orientation is not more or less important because of the mood of billionaires.

If someone can influence or even decide who runs a country simply because of their money, that is not a matter of left or right-wing — it is the purchasing of political power. History has shown that when the wealth of a few can decide the fate of political issues, democratic institutions suffer or even wither away. If this donation is not blocked it will signal the shift of politics in the UK from something decided by the people of Britain to the whims of a foreign billionaire. What will Nigel have to say about that?