America's Oligarchs At Work
Mark Zuckerberg's right-wing PR tour is an attempt to humanize one of your new rulers, and keep America stupid.
Mark Zuckerberg opens his 170-minute Joe Rogan Experience appearance by proclaiming he created Facebook in order to give people a voice. Not even a minute into the interview, and he’s already gaslighting the public into believing that Facebook’s existence is rooted in nobility. We know the real story, and it’s been written about extensively. We also know that tech billionaires bending the knee to Trump is currently in fashion. Zuckerberg’s PR stint is just one in a long list of right-wing capitulation campaigns looking to cozy up to the incoming administration. What makes Zuck’s so particularly egregious, however, is how formulaic it feels.
In both the video he posted on Tuesday and the interview from yesterday, Zuckerberg runs through a checklist of right-wing appeals ranging from free speech apologia to a full buy-in of Trump’s America First rhetoric. This is a complete change of course from his historical liberal advocacy. It’s not like Zuckerberg was ever a bastion of progressive politics, but his politics were rooted in a coastal, Silicon Valley liberalism. What Zuck has done this past week is not a matter of a change in his principles. After all, Peter Thiel is an original angel investor in Facebook, and he’s also JD Vance’s daddy. These billionaires are simply doing what is best for their businesses. At the 19:55 mark of the podcast, in the midst of his explanation on his political transformation, Zuckerberg puts it out there in the open: “This is the right place to be going forward.”
Of course it is! Trump is about to be president, and I’m sure it also has nothing to do with Meta’s impending FTC hearing regarding antitrust. Can we honestly say he would be on this same PR tour if Trump had lost? Zuck’s motivations are not based in any kind of principled belief system. Everything he does is solely for the betterment of Meta and its shareholders. That’s not meant to be a groundbreaking discovery, but where conservatives see a large-scale vindication of their values, it’s important to see this for what it really is: America’s oligarchy at work.
As the conversation continues, Zuckerberg explains that part of his shift in Meta policy came from a place of no longer wanting to decide what the truth is. This line of reasoning is based in a blatant disregard for any kind of responsibility. Ignoring a larger conversation about mis/disinformation for now, when it comes to reality or facts, the truth is just that. There is no “is or isn’t.” The harmful nature of giving credence to lies and insanity is what got us to the point in the first place. It has allowed vaccine skepticism to grow; it happened with the narrative surrounding immigration, and it’s exactly what happened in the events preceding Jan. 6th. Zuck also references comments made by incoming Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that women do not belong in combat roles. Zuck says, “If it’s okay to talk about on the floor of Congress, why shouldn’t you be able to debate it on social media?” It’s an odd correlation to make, and all it does is highlight the complete degeneracy of the types of conversations our politicians are having. We should not allow blatant misogyny (from an alcoholic rapist no less) to be discussed with any sort of legitimacy. It shouldn’t be a balancing act to do the right thing. It should just be done.
After 80 minutes or so, the discussion surrounding politics teeters off, and Zuck and Rogan shoot the shit about rich guy hobbies and how Apple’s Vision Pro sucks. Over the course of 3, hours Zuck attempts to completely alter his persona in the eyes of a group of people who have long villainized him. It’s intentional, it’s methodical, and just like his fellow 1%ers, it’s all for his own benefit. Zuckerberg knows that letting right-wing rhetoric and vitriol fester, grow, and become legitimized is the only way Meta can grow. Anything else, like the FTC suit or tax cuts on the wealthy, is what will bring about the demise of companies like his that no longer offer anything of value to society. Meta has run its course on creating products that “give people a voice.” Its only objective now is continue to exist as it does and swallow anything that comes near it. There’s only one group of politicians that’s in the business of letting things like that happen, and they’re about to take office.