| HN Mirror

The Nazi party was not socialist, it was just in the name. The Nazi party had a leftist socialist wing, which was expunged on the Night of Long Knives. Hitler himself generally stayed above such economic debates, and instead promised a sort of hazy race-based utopia that had elements of capitalism and socialism. Once the Nazis came to power, they did not try to seize private ownership of the means of production, but rather made corrupt deals with corporate powers (ironically not too dissimilar from Musk's current trajectory). When they did enact surface-level socialist programs such as consolidating labor unions into the Deutsches Arbeitsfront (DAF), it was done with incredible corruption that generally ended up suppressing labor and supporting management. As is common with extreme-right parties, Hitler basically used socialist rhetoric for its popular appeal, promising all of its advantages without the drawbacks (and similarly with capitalism). Once in power though, he did not enact socialist policies. I would not trust political entities based on their name, no more than I would trust the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to be democratic.

Musk does not have any incentive to help you and me, he has an incentive to use the government apparatuses to further his businesses. He is a good businessman who has made two very valuable companies; this does not mean he will use the government responsibly, e.g. by ensuring fair competition. As a simple example, after having relied on it for years, he is now trying to eliminate the EV tax credit because it will harm his competitors more than him [1]. This kind of regulatory capture is not good, and we should not cede government power to him or people with conflicts of interest like him.

[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tesla-elon-musk-donald-trump-ev...