“Elon Musk and his army of ‘tech bros’ are grabbing for power. Women suffer the most from this—and ultimately, the entire world,” writes Lin Hierse in *taz*.
For the power games of men like Trump, Musk, and their fans, who spew raw hatred into the world, Lin Hierse sees an explanation in “bro culture.”
💡 The “bro”: “a revamped version of the macho,” who may seem more modern but still loves to surround himself with like-minded peers to maintain his status. “Many ‘bros’ were shaped in the neoliberal mecca of tech startups. They founded companies that invent problems they can profitably sell solutions for, and some have sexual assault allegations against them that don’t significantly harm their careers. (…) The rise of the ‘bros’ has always meant the disenfranchisement of women.”
💡 With Trump and Musk, “two billionaires have invested in each other because they want to extract profit for themselves. Moreover, they now possess the media and political power to turn the U.S. and the rest of the world into their playground. These men treat an entire country and its institutions like a corporation whose shares they can buy up and manipulate to their advantage. And instead of being arrested for it, they are celebrated. (…) If it becomes mainstream to gather a pack of like-minded individuals and show utter disregard for the world and the consequences of one’s actions, then it grows dark. This darkness already affects all those who do not fit (or refuse to fit) into this testosterone-driven libertarian world order: children, girls, women, the elderly, the sick, queer and trans people, people with disabilities, people without money, people without papers. This is why the rise of the ‘bros’ should alarm everyone.”
👉 “I am witnessing a regressive, Machiavellian understanding of power, an individualistic, cutthroat mentality,” says political scientist Sophie Pornschlegel in an interview with herCAREER—before the U.S. presidential election. “It’s a huge problem for democracy that individuals or companies with massive wealth now wield more power than democratically elected representatives. (…) Financial power is highly problematic because it corrupts politics and weakens democracy. No Elon Musk in the world should have the ability to purchase the digital public sphere and reshape it according to his individual understanding of ‘freedom of speech.'”
👉 The podcast “Why We Need to Rethink Power” with Sophie Pornschlegel at the herCAREER Expo explores this issue. Democracy, she argues, requires a new understanding of power—one that sees it as a tool for shaping and as a collective force for the community. Change begins with the individual: recognizing one’s own power and using it positively—in relationships, as a leader, as a voter, and as a citizen.
Published by herCAREER,
Posted on LinkedIn on 27.11.2024
References:
