In just one Tweet, Elon Musk confused America. Maybe the world. As a punctuation, the Silicon Valley star opted for a red rose emoji. Choice of symbol of beauty or love, or emblem of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America). Since 2016, and the lost campaign of progressive candidate Bernie Sanders, the pictogram has become a rallying sign for part of the American left.
On May 17, 2020, at 7.44 p.m. French time, Musk grabbed his iPhone and wrote to his almost 40 million subscribers: “Take the red pill”, red rose emoji. More than 120,000 retweets and 530,000 likes for this invitation to swallow a “Red pill”. In the trilogy Matrix, performed by sisters Lana and Lilly Wachowski, computer scientist Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, is given the choice between a blue granule and a red granule. The first allows ” sweet Dreams “, above all to continue not to ask any questions; the second obliges us to face the truth in the face.
In recent years, this scene has resurfaced on Reddit or 4Chan-type forums, most often in far-right circles, conspirators, misogynists and hungry for a “Other truth” It front of “Lies” assumptions of society and our leaders. So much so that we find the “Red pill” praised even among elected Americans, mostly members of the Republican Party. What does Elon Musk seek to make us understand? The sentence seems to suggest to progressives on the left that they are seriously mistaken, in this time of pandemic, speculate the dozens of articles released in the hours that follow. And that containment is definitely a bad option.
The statement is heard: On the same day, at 8:58 p.m., the overkill CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, a private space company and automaker of electric vehicles, receives a response. “Taken! “, is “Pill taken!” “. The note is signed Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the President of the United States, and White House job creation advisor. Like the formalization of an alliance.
Similar ideas about the pandemic
The discussion had been going on for a little while already. On the Covid-19 pandemic, the Trump clan and Elon Musk have regularly expressed similar ideas: the response of American states has been ” stupid “ and guided by the ” panic “, insists the multi-billionaire boss. Containment would be a measure “Fascist”, he plague with his employees. By the end of April, he even predicts zero new cases of contamination. Missed.
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