Illustration by Paola Bilancieri.
Many people believe that a person’s name determines his/her personality and behavior. Look for example at the name Marylin Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson. What but a voluptuous blonde could she be? Or consider Madonna, born Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone. What but a commanding stage presence could she have had if she had decided on keeping any of her other names? In my case, my name Cesar occasionally makes me behave like an emperor, and I start giving orders left and right. My wife, who is an intelligent and sensitive person, disabuses me of this notion and quickly brings me back to reality.
This situation applies to the political world as well. The name John F. Kennedy brings to mind the always young-looking, heroic, adventurous man. The name Vladimir Putin makes one think of an irascible, spoiled child. Angela Merkel, the grand dame of German politics, is the name of the solid, intelligent, patriotic woman that she is.
Donald Trump (without the middle initial J., which lowers its impact) is the name of a powerful, demanding leader. Regrettably, in his case, these attributes are mixed with other less attractive personal characteristics. But powerful and cunning he is. It is probably these characteristics that made him such a remarkable star in his TV show “The Apprentice.” According to some TV critics, this show enjoyed the largest audience since biblical times.
And now we have a newcomer to the world of U.S. politics: Elon Musk, an immigrant from South Africa, reportedly the richest man in the world. The name Musk reminds me of musk oil, which can be obtained from the musk pod, a preputial gland from a pouch under the skin of the male musk deer. Which brings us to what kind of image the name Elon Musk brings to mind.
Because musk comes from a secretion of male deer used to attract females, this name evokes an animalistic, aggressive, occasionally brutal quality. Although musk oil has an attractive smell and is used in some perfumes, its excessive use can be toxic and cause skin allergies and that is why its use is not recommended in pregnant and breast-feeding women.
As soon as Trump assumed power, Musk was given almost unlimited power which he is using for his own, nefarious means. Musk is a remarkable businessman with huge ambitions. He runs companies that are vital to technology, national security, and the media. Even before entering national politics, he already had benefitted from at least $15.4 billion in government contracts in the last 10 years.
Through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that he runs, he has unprecedented levels of governmental access. He uses his powers to dismantle agencies and gain access to restricted personal information on millions of Americans with the potential for exposing that information to foreign powers. “Elon Musk and his minions are stealing Americans’ private personal and financial data in one of the biggest data hacks in U.S history,” said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Although Musk clearly leads that agency’s cost-cutting efforts, Joshua Fisher, director of the White House Office of Administration, stated on February 18 that Musk is not part of DOGE, but is only an employee of the White House and serves as a senior adviser to the president. Mr. Fisher obviously ignores the popular proverb, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it may just be a duck.”
One of his main, and dangerous, targets is the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which he called a “criminal organization.” As an international public health consultant, I have carried out health-related missions for UN agencies in over 50 developing countries worldwide. Having seen the work of USAID in those countries, I can attest that its work has probably saved millions of lives, mostly children’s.
Most of Musk’s actions are considered illegal by experts and have been challenged and blocked by the courts. This hasn’t stopped Musk for pushing ahead with mass firings of government workers and creating chaos in several agencies. Laurence Tribe, a noted constitutional scholar and a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, said that the lack of guardrails being placed on DOGE’s initiatives raise questions of illegality and ethical wrongdoing that can be challenged in court. If all the charges against Musk and DOGE are proven true, and he is convicted of crimes, from then on he should be more properly addressed as Felon Musk.
