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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Muskism summary
Quinn Slobodian, Ben Tarnoff
A Guide for the Perplexed
Brief summary
Muskism delves into the cultural and economic impacts of Elon Musk's influence. Slobodian and Tarnoff analyze the societal implications of Musk's vision, exploring how it shapes contemporary entrepreneurial, technological, and economic landscapes.
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Muskism
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The blueprint for Muskism
Have you ever heard of Technocracy? For those of us who haven’t, it was a movement founded in 1933 by American engineer Howard Scott that advocated for a society run by a dictatorship of engineers, allocating resources according to strict scientific principles.
Each member referred to themselves as a number. Joshua Haldeman, Elon Musk’s maternal grandfather, was a proud number 10450-1.
In 1940, the government of Canada, Haldeman’s home, banned Technocracy. A decade later, and after a few more failed political ventures, Haldeman moved his family to South Africa. It was 1950, two years since the National Party had come to power and introduced the racial segregation policy of apartheid.
But South Africa wasn’t just a white-supremacist state. Its architects saw themselves as futurists. They aimed to exploit recent technological advances, from computer mainframes to nuclear research, to become a self-sufficient utopia – a minutely engineered and optimised society that could withstand the pressures of the outside world. Let’s call it fortress futurism.
South Africa’s fortress would subjugate an entire race, relying on its labor to create a brighter future for the select few.
This was the backdrop to a young Elon’s life.
Born in Pretoria in 1971, he grew up in an elite white suburb on the edge of the city. Shy and nerdy, he was bullied at school, and lost himself in books whenever he was at home. Pretty soon, he would find a new, deeper portal to the wider world: the computer. More specifically, the Commodore VIC-20.
Musk was just 10 when it came out. But he persuaded his father to buy him one, and at the age of 12, he had programmed his first product, a videogame called Blastar, which he sold for $500 to a magazine.
By the time he hit 17, South Africa was engaging in escalating wars with its neighbours, using young, poorly trained conscripts to fight them. To avoid this fate, Musk fled to Canada, securing a passport through his mother’s nationality. He would never return. But South Africa’s fortress futurism would remain firmly implanted in him.
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What is Muskism about?
Muskism (2026) offers an in-depth analysis of the many facets of “Muskism” – the worldview represented by Elon Musk. It traces Musk’s trajectory from apartheid South Africa all the way to the government of the United States, covering SpaceX, Tesla, Grok, and other ventures, showing how they’ve contributed to forming the man we see today.
Who should read Muskism?
- Fans or foes of Elon Musk
- Students of society and its evolution over time
- Budding entrepreneurs looking for insights into the world’s richest man
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