In the wake of widespread protests against President Donald Trump’s controversial military parade over the weekend, billionaire Elon Musk took to social media to share a thought-provoking message. On Sunday night, amidst heightened unrest, Musk posted an image from the video game “Bioshock,” featuring a banner that proclaims, “No Gods or Kings. Only Man.”
Musk’s tweet, accompanied by the question, “Anyone else think of this yesterday?” seems to resonate with the sentiments of the millions who marched in response to Trump’s parade, organized in celebration of his birthday and backed by the UFC.
The particular image Musk shared, depicting a red banner encountered by players in the game’s submerged dystopia called Rapture, draws intriguing parallels to contemporary America. Rapture, once envisioned as a utopia by the character Andrew Ryan, devolves into chaos marked by stark inequality and resource scarcity. This depiction echoes ongoing discussions about wealth disparity and the political approaches of both Musk and Trump.
Whether Musk regards himself as a figure comparable to Ryan or is simply critiquing Trump remains ambiguous. Recently, Trump denied feeling like a king, despite generating an AI image portraying himself as one, amidst the protests.
Musk’s observations have sparked debates regarding his understanding of social criticism in fiction. As Harvard historian Jill Lepore pointed out in a podcast last year, “Why do these guys keep reading science fiction, which often is a searing social criticism — why are they reading it as a user’s manual?”
This post follows a particularly contentious week, marked by a public feud between Musk and Trump characterized by personal jabs and mockery, which Musk later acknowledged had escalated too far. Despite his massive influence, Musk’s actions have resulted in a decline in popularity across party lines, raising concerns about his future government contracts, which are vital for his business.
The ultimate message behind his choice of a dystopian video game remains uncertain. Is he alerting the public to the risks of a Trump-led America devolving into a real-life Rapture, or is he advocating for such a transformation? Only time will tell where Musk’s cryptic musings lead him and the country.