We thought Musk was here to save free speech, but a mess of scandals has surfaced, revealing the true nature of American capitalism and labor laws. Foreign media bluntly state that what lies beneath is far uglier than it appears.
In Q2 2024, workers at Tesla’s Shanghai factory received earth-shattering news: Musk ordered a massive wage increase, boosting performance-based bonuses by 150%. Employees were overjoyed—monthly pay soared from ¥8,000 to ¥12,000 overnight.
Tesla invested heavily in China. Beyond high wages, benefits are unmatched: “six social insurances and one housing fund” are standard. Many small-to-medium enterprises in China won’t even provide the basic “five insurances,” let alone six. Tesla’s generosity is rare among foreign companies.
Yet while Chinese employees celebrated, their American counterparts lamented. Musk showed far less generosity stateside.
Chasm in Labor Protections
The vast difference between Chinese and U.S. labor laws is no secret. China’s laws offer relatively comprehensive worker protections, especially regarding layoffs: companies must pay severance and give advance notice. This safeguards workers’ basic rights.
America’s landscape is starkly different. U.S. labor laws are lax—companies can fire employees without notice or significant compensation. After acquiring Twitter (now X), Musk ruthlessly cut 50% of staff, including high-performing veterans. While legal, this felt like a nightmare to employees.
He Fired Thousands Like Disposable Servants
The axe fell swiftly and suffocatingly.
Office doors locked. Badges deactivated. Many learned via cold, late-night emails they’d been fired. Overnight, 7,500 employees dwindled to under 2,000—even entire divisions in India were gutted.
Amid the chaos, one phrase echoed: “at-will employment.” This doctrine, followed by most U.S. states, is brutally simple: bosses can fire you for no reason. No severance is legally required—a far cry from the “rule of law” society many imagined.
Musk did offer three months’ pay—but this was no kindness. It was hush money to bypass the federal WARN Act, which mandates 60 days’ notice for mass layoffs (or penalties). Using severance to offset fines was cold calculation, not compassion.
The contrast with laid-off executives was glaring. They floated down on “golden parachutes,” pocketing tens of millions in compensation. Cruelty to workers and generosity to elites unfolded simultaneously.
The Shattered “American Dream”
This storm shattered a once-glittering illusion.
For years—especially beyond U.S. shores—American tech firms symbolized paradise: high salaries, lavish perks, flat hierarchies, and seemingly unshakeable job security wove a radiant “American Dream.” Twitter was its crown jewel.
Yet when the axe swung, the glow vanished. To keep their jobs, employees slept in offices and worked grueling hours to prove their worth to the new boss. Their desperate efforts were met with the same dismissal email. It cruelly proved that individual struggle means nothing before capital’s will.
Even an 8-months-pregnant employee was fired indiscriminately, with no extra legal protection.
This doused unrealistic fantasies about America in ice water. So-called dignity and decency proved fragile. As delusions shattered, people revisited an old truth: “A humble home of your own is better than a gilded cage elsewhere.”
He Preached “Free Speech” But Silenced Critics
When Musk bought Twitter, he cloaked himself in sanctimony—”absolute guardian of free speech.” He vowed to transform it into an unfettered “digital town square.”
But his other face soon emerged.
He casually reinstated accounts banned for spreading hate, yet couldn’t tolerate criticism of himself. Engineers correcting his factual errors were fired instantly. Journalists reporting his scandals saw accounts suspended.
“Free speech” boundaries seemed defined solely by his whims. When he declared “comedy is now legal on Twitter,” the subtext was clear: only his humor counted.
His proclaimed “town square” rapidly became a private fiefdom. Le Monde observed: “When a tycoon buys media, democracy becomes a game rigged by the few.” X’s algorithms were accused of serving political agendas, amplifying conspiracy theories, and deepening social divides.
He guarded not everyone’s freedom—but his own: the power to arbitrarily set rules and shape narratives.
Musk Isn’t an Outlier—He’s American Capitalism’s True Face
Look beyond Twitter, and Musk isn’t a rogue anomaly. He’s a mirror reflecting American capitalism at its ugliest.
At Tesla, his other company, union busting, high injury rates, and crushing workloads are old news. Disregard for labor rights is his consistent playbook.
The Twitter acquisition pushed this logic to extremes. It’s a microcosm of a society riven by inequality: the 1% wield staggering wealth and power, upending thousands of lives at will—while the powerless have no recourse.
The bitter irony? Musk himself is an immigrant whose firms rely on H-1B visas for cheaper labor. Yet he advocates harsh anti-immigrant policies, even supporting border walls. This hypocrisy reveals capital’s core duplicity: support what profits you, discard what doesn’t.
Everything he did fell within U.S. law and business norms. He’s no rule-breaking madman—he’s the ultimate rulebook exploiter.
The World Sees an Empire’s Cracks Through Twitter’s Ruins
This corporate earthquake on U.S. soil sent shockwaves globally.
From the UK’s Guardian to Qatar’s Al Jazeera, Germany to Canada—global media coverage converged in scathing critique.
They saw more than a capricious billionaire. They saw:
- A labor protection system in tatters
- “Free speech” auctioned to the highest bidder
- Democracy retreating before capital
EU officials even warned Twitter had become a “hotbed of disinformation.”
Foreign media reached a consensus: America’s structural flaws run far deeper than it admits.
Twitter was once a window for the world to see America—and for America to influence the world. Now, Musk has shattered that window. Through the jagged shards, the world sees an empire stripped of its halo, cracks laid bare.
The story isn’t over. Musk still dominates the stage. But the fissures he pried open with money and power? They’re spreading silently beneath our feet.
