Alexander III discovered that pogroms were a useful tool to deflect anger away from himself and the establishment and protect the old order. Musk and his friends are doing something subtly different: channelling fear of immigrants into rage against the establishment. Unlike the tsar, Musk doesn’t want to preserve the old order. He’s part of a Silicon Valley movement that wants to replace it.

It is useful to be aware of this. But those who want to preserve our imperfect system, where power and sovereignty rest with democratic nation states, not sovereign individuals, would do well to focus less on incendiary tweets. They should look to the real causes of unrest, the gaping chasm of wealth inequality, and figure out how to fix it.

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