Google Document with Citations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1igBJ4EnW8a727XK1ouoQpXhimnVQmzecJtKFuKgrGf8/edit?usp=sharing

This is an essay about the radicalisation of public figures.

The examples will be:

• JK Rowling
• Elon Musk 
• Kanye West 

Public Figures that have been radicalised 

JK Rowling

So we went from this in 2014:

To this in 2024:

Did she just assume the ‘T’ standed for fricking Thestral???

The more likely consequence is that her views have massively shifted over the last 10 years. First signs emerged with a plausible deniable “accidental liked tweet” in 2018 but then slowly increased with signs such as following ‘”self-professed transphobe”, tweeting support of people who made “a series of anti-trans statements”, vague “joke” tweets, full on essays about her views, putting out anti-trans novels, criticising laws to help trans people, cyberbullying cisgender female athletes who look too manly and  finally the tweet above.

This is not to mention using her immense wealth to the actual funding of anti-trans groups and doing some light holocaust denial to dismiss her pro-trans critics

Elon Musk

Moving on to Elon Musk. Here is a video of him describing his political views in 2014. No need to watch it. I’ve screenshotted the main point.

Elon Musk: The Way Of The Future

He also has supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020.

And now let’s jump to 2024 where “Elon Musk gave at least $277 million in political donations this year to back Donald Trump and other Republican candidates, making him the largest political donor in the 2024 election cycle” and the giving the “largest from a single donor since at least 2010, outside of candidates funding their own campaigns, according to data from OpenSecrets.”

This isn’t just supporting Republicans due to the professed fiscally conservative views his 2014 self would agree with. (Although getting involved in the Trump Administration was definitely mostly done to protect and grow his already staggering wealth)

His social liberal views would have had to also change from 2014 based on his comments and the website he bought becoming increasingly Nazi-esque over the last couple of years. From his anti-trans comments, him calling anti-Semitic posts on X the “actual truth” , and many criticisms of Black Lives Matter, diversity, equity and inclusion, and the general “wokeness” of it all. He is definitely not “socially liberal” anymore. And due to his immense money and power he has become the “chief amplifier of global authoritarianism” according to one magazine.

Oh yeah and let’s not forget this weird nazi salute he did:

Kanye West

And finally let’s look at Kanye West in 2014.

And he must really believe in democratic/liberal policies because apparently Obama called him a “Jackass” in 2009

Similar to the above people Kanye West also supported the political campaigns of Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016, initially supported Donald Trump in 2020 (until launching his own campaign unlike the others), and supported Trump once more in 2024

And for an example of this not being about economic policies, Kanye spoke out about GLBT (this is LGBT before we switched the letters around) Fairness in 2005 on MTV when he said “Not just hip-hop, but America just discriminates. And I wanna just, to come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, ‘Yo, stop it.'”. And this is based on reporting done by Human Rights Campaign

And now lets go onto see where Kanye’s views are post 2024. Brace yourselves. 

Huh??????

Huh?????

Always?????????  And he’s selling these T-Shirts now!!!???!!!

Well I guess that’s all fine then!!!???!!??!

Right. Anyway, lets get onto the part where I briefly list of some of the right wing stuff they have said:

He said he admired Adolf Hitler, publicly denied the Holocaust, and identified himself as a Nazi in an interview with Alex Jones’s Infowars. He has also continued to rant on twitter with other various anti semitic stuff and “woke feminist shit”. Following the pattern, He did tweet some stuff about trans people but it’s much more weird than transphobic compared to the others  

And finally he has released a song called “Heil Hitler ” which almost featured the F slur but instead it was replaced with a snippet of a speech from Adolf Hitler (which seems worse).

Phew, that was exhausting. 

Interactions: A Small Break

Let’s take a break to see how our case studies have interacted

Lol. No Comment

Comparing these case studies

So what do all three have in common?: 

• Ultra rich
• Popular figures due to previous mostly praised works (Harry Potter, Electric Cars, Songs)
• Supported Obama in 2014
• Major online interaction with Twitter
• Mental Health Struggles (depression PTSD bipolar disorder)
• Drug abuse (alcohol, ketamine, nitrous oxide)  
• “Supported” Donald Trump in more recent times
• Publicly signaled support for (Neo)Nazi beliefs (Holocaust Denial, Salute, Hitler Worship)
• Supporting Neo-Nazi’s or people happy to work alongside Nazi’s (Kellie-Jay Keen,Various Twitter Accounts Nick Fuentes)
• Surrounding themselves with the types of people who agree with their radical views either online or in person

However they are very different in other ways:

• Nationality
• Gender
• Race

Let’s talk about Radicalisation

Radicalisation is the the act or process of becoming more extreme, as in beliefs, actions, or politics

A few of the signs of Radicalisation line up with the stuff discussed above. Particularly:

• Spending an increasing amount of time online and sharing extreme views on social media.
• Mental health issues
• Looking to blame others
• Being influenced or controlled by a group

I believe most of these signs can be found within our case studies.

Let’s talk about Fascism

Whilst linking our three case studies to nazi’s may be enough for some people. I should still discuss and analyse their fascistic beliefs. Calling any of the case studies a nazi is still more exaggeration then accurate (even Kanye) and people should try to be accurate in their statements. Not just to avoid getting sued but to prevent others from claiming they exaggerate their enemies. 

Let’s talk about some of Umberto Eco’s Common Features of Fascism and link them to our case studies

• “The cult of tradition” When all truth has already been revealed by tradition, no new learning can occur, only further interpretation and refinement.
  • Our case studies reject newer scientific ideas
• “The rejection of modernism”, which views the rationalistic development of Western culture since the Enlightenment as a descent into depravity.
  • “Wokeness/Woke Mind Virus”
• “The cult of action for action’s sake”. This, says Eco, is connected with anti-intellectualism and irrationalism, and often manifests in attacks on modern culture and science.
  • See above
• “Disagreement is treason”
  • Betrayed by actors who she “helped”
• “Fear of difference”, which fascism seeks to exploit and exacerbate, often in the form of racism or an appeal against foreigners and immigrants.
  • Obvious
• “Appeal to a frustrated middle class”, fearing economic pressure from the demands and aspirations of lower social groups.
  • The case studies appeal to the middle class as much if not more so as any other class
• “Obsession with a plot” and the hyping-up of an enemy threat. This often combines an appeal to xenophobia with a fear of disloyalty and sabotage from marginalized groups living within the society
  • Elon Musk basically endorsing Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory
• Fascist societies rhetorically cast their enemies as “at the same time too strong and too weak”.
  • General sentiment that “Transwomen are dangerous threats and transmen are being brainwashed by media”
• “Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy” because “life is permanent warfare”
  • “Culture Wars”
• “Machismo”, Fascists thus hold “both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality”.
  • Obvious but see J.K Rowling’s recent foray into disparaging asexuality (which is similar enough to a nonstandard sexual habits like chastity)

To previous fan of their works

As our case studies have previously put lots of good works out into the world, this has garnered them lots of fans along with the status, money and power that comes from having fans. It is extremely likely that the person reading this has been a fan of at least one of the case studies works or the case studies themselves. 

Personally speaking I immensely enjoyed one of the case studies collective works, liked the objectives of the businesses created by another of the case studies and probably would have liked the other case studies works if I had taken the time to search them out and listen to them.

As (former) fans of them or their works, we are particularly susceptible to follow them down the rabbit hole they are heading down or defend them from critics. It is much harder to disassociate from the things you once loved and even harder to stop buying and supporting the work they continue to produce. 

However I must urge you to do so. 

Two of our case studies are using their wealth to further their agendas. (J.K Rowling Women’s Fund, Elon Musk super PAC) and J.K Rowling has indicated looking at the income still generated by her previous works prevents the pain of having to reconsider her views at night

Any further support of these two will directly be funnelled into supporting societal slide into fascism.

Kanye West seems to be the only one who has been hurt financially for their antisemitic statements.

And this does a lot to hinder his power as he is now definitely the quietest and least impactful of our three case studies. 

If you take anything away from this it should be the easiest thing in the world. Do Nothing. Specifically, buy nothing. Particularly:

• The Harry Potter Reboot
• Teslas
• Kanye West Songs

If you can get these without buying them then consuming them critically is okay but try not to encourage others to buy them. (Even if there are good aspects of the products)

Conclusion

The radicalisation of public figures is very concerning not just for themselves (although it is probably bad for them as well as they drift away from mainstream society ). It is also bad for the rest of us. They all have great power and influence which they are actively using to fund and further their agendas as well as radicalise more people. If they are successful they will push the Overton window (the range of political ideas the public is willing to consider and accept) even further towards fascist ideas.
Someday we may wake up in a world we don’t recognise. The kind only dreamt of in dystopian fictions.  And these figures will be celebrated for their later works rather than their earlier ones. 

Other case studies considered:

• Arnold Schwarzenegger – This may be an example of an republican getting more centrist / anti-trump over time and even endorsing democrats in the last election – However I wouldn’t say this is a radicalisation to vote for a democrat
• Donald Trump – He did say he “probably ident(ifies) more as Democrat” one time in 2015 but he seems more like someone to switch parties and political beliefs  to whatever benefits him so doesn’t really count. 

Recommended Videos For Further Insight into Case Studies:

JK Rowling’s New Friends (More on “being influenced by a group”)

Elon Musk’s “Hitler Problem” – SOME MORE NEWS (This is pre salute)

Kanye was never good… (This video assumes you know about him already)