Irish Examiner view: Unwanted opinions

Elon Musk on world affairs

 Elon Musk's seemingly pro-Russian stance last week found few friendly ears in Kyiv.

Like many successful people, Elon Musk seems to think that because he is a stellar performer in many spheres — not least in making obscene amounts of money — it gives him the right to opine publicly on world affairs in the deluded view that his thoughts on matters such as the war in Ukraine and tensions between China and the West over Taiwan matter one whit.

He is entitled to voice his opinions and his thoughts on international affairs, given his global successes in business, might have relevance if uttered in that context alone, but to have become an outspoken arbiter on how to stop a war and, maybe, how to prevent one is neither judicious nor welcome.

As the richest man in the world due to his very capitalist activities with electric storage devices, the Tesla motor company, the Space-X rocket production and planetary exploration endeavours, and his Starlink satellite internet business, Musk has obvious global influence.

His opinions on the war in Ukraine and the threat of war in Taiwan have drawn furious reactions in both territories and understandably so. In Ukraine, his suggestion that the country could stop the war Russia has illegally inflicted on it by simply rejecting Nato and ceding annexed territory to Vladimir Putin’s regime was regarded as almost traitorous.

That he had supported Ukraine by giving the country access to Starlink early in the war was a very welcome intervention, but his seemingly pro-Russian stance last week found few friendly ears in Kyiv. Similarly, his proposal that Taiwan become a special administrative zone under Chinese control predictably failed to go down well with the already jumpy administration in Taipei and its equally anxious citizenry.

Musk may have had one eye on the financial wellbeing of his global business interests in making these interventions, but his foray into international geopolitics suggests he might have been better off keeping his febrile opinions to himself.