Elon Musk’s push for freedom of speech relies on a vision of people rising and living up to an ideal. History shows time and time again that if rudderless, people descend to the lowest common denominator.
What is the rudder in the 21st-century? It’s not religion so what is it? It’s not communism or any other ideology other than freedom to do what you want – and that’s not a rudder because a rudder steers by constraining behaviour.
It is easily observed that many men try to validate themselves by acquiring whatever is desired by the population. In The Ordeal of Change, Eric Hoffer wrote that this stems from a lack of self-esteem. At its most extreme it leads to what he calls the true believer, someone who identifies himself by reference to some greater ideology or organisation. The test of a true believer is that when he is shown the falsity in the ideology or organisation, he doubles down. He would rather deny the truth than abandon the organisation, to which he clings ever more tightly.
We see the emergence of the autonomous individual in world history. For many it is a lonely and frightening place to be, without reliance on community for identity. It carries the hear of being at the mercy of whatever life throws at the person, and the deeper fear of being inconsequential.
Which begs the question of how we got here.