Government Is Not a Business—Elon Musk is the Last Person to Fix Government

The idea that government should operate like a business is a longstanding myth, one that ignores the fundamental purpose of governance. But in recent years, a more dangerous variation of this myth has taken hold: the belief that billionaires, particularly tech entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, are uniquely qualified to “fix” government inefficiencies. Musk is using his wealth and influence to reshape governance and marketing/selling Trump’s plan to gut federal agencies as a positive that is long overdue. But Musk is no genius, and his experience in the private sector makes him particularly ill-suited to wield any influence over public institutions.

1. Governments Exist to Serve the Public, Not to Make a Profit

Businesses prioritize efficiency and profit, often by cutting costs, reducing services, underpaying and overworking staff, and finding ways to maximize revenue. Governments, on the other hand, are responsible for ensuring the well-being of all their citizens, even when that means operating at a financial loss. If essential services like disaster response, healthcare, and infrastructure were treated as businesses, they would only serve those who could afford them.

FEMA, for example, exists to provide emergency relief to all Americans, regardless of their ability to pay. Trump’s recent hints at dismantling FEMA under the guise of “efficiency” align with the Silicon Valley mindset that government should be lean and privatized. But this mindset ignores the reality that disaster relief cannot be monetized without leaving millions of people vulnerable.

2. Musk is a Marketing Hack, Not a Genius

Musk has carefully cultivated the image of a visionary genius, but his track record suggests he is more of a savvy self-promoter and an opportunist than a brilliant innovator. The companies he is most associated with—Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company—are not the result of his personal ingenuity. Instead, he has a pattern of acquiring companies, taking credit for the work of engineers, and making grandiose promises that rarely materialize.

• Tesla was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning; Musk forced his way in and sued to be declared a co-founder.

• SpaceX is heavily reliant on government contracts and subsidies, yet Musk portrays it as a self-made success.

• Twitter/X has become a disaster under his leadership, proving that even his supposed business acumen is questionable.

• Hyperloop and The Boring Company have failed to produce anything of real value, but they’ve successfully generated headlines.

Musk’s skill is not in innovation, but in branding. He sells the illusion of genius, and too many people buy into it.

3. The Mythos of Musk: A Manufactured Genius

Musk has been elevated to near-mythical status, largely through strategic media manipulation and a cult of personality that frames him as the next Einstein or Tesla. But his success is built on a carefully curated image rather than actual groundbreaking inventions.

• Media and Tech Worship – Musk benefits from a tech culture that fetishizes disruption, allowing him to present failed projects as “bold experiments” rather than wasted resources.

• A Master of Public Relations – He excels at making outlandish promises, knowing that by the time reality catches up, he will have already moved on to another grand claim.

• Taking Credit for Others’ Work – The engineers and scientists behind Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink do the real heavy lifting, while Musk soaks up the praise.

Far from being a lone genius, Musk is simply a businessman who knows how to package himself as one.

4. Musk’s Leadership Style is Dictatorial, Not Democratic

One of the fundamental differences between a business and a government is that governments are (at least in theory) accountable to the people. Businesses operate under a top-down hierarchy where the CEO makes decisions without needing public input. Musk has demonstrated repeatedly that he thrives in environments where he has unchecked authority, whether it’s arbitrarily changing policies at Twitter, purging employees who disagree with him, or demanding absolute loyalty from his fan base.

Musk’s tenure as an employer has been marked by reports of a toxic work environment. He has been accused of union-busting, mass layoffs without notice, and punishing employees who question his leadership. At Tesla, workers who pushed for unionization faced intimidation tactics. At Twitter (now X), Musk’s chaotic leadership resulted in mass firings, abrupt policy shifts, and a general degradation of working conditions. His management style prioritizes personal whims over stability, which is exactly why he should be nowhere near public institutions that require democratic accountability.

5. The Real Goal: Dismantling Government to Serve the Ultra-Wealthy

Musk and other billionaire-backed libertarians don’t actually want to make government “more efficient.” They want to strip it down to the point where corporations hold even more unchecked power. A government “audit” led by Musk wouldn’t expose waste—it would expose which agencies stand in the way of unregulated capitalism. Environmental regulations, labor protections, anti-monopoly enforcement—these are the things billionaires want dismantled under the guise of efficiency.

Trump’s proposed gutting of FEMA is just one example of how this agenda plays out in practice. If FEMA is dismantled, disaster response will be left to private industry—meaning only those who can afford help will get it. The same logic could be applied to Social Security, the EPA, public education, and even military operations. The goal isn’t a more effective government; it’s a government that serves only the wealthy.

6. The Hypocrisy of Businessmen Who Want to Starve Government

Perhaps the greatest irony of all is that businessmen like Musk champion the idea that government should be “run like a business,” yet they refuse to let government operate under the same basic principles that businesses follow.

• Businesses Always Want More Revenue – Companies constantly push for growth, expansion, and increased profits. No CEO argues that their company should shrink its revenue streams.

• But Businessmen Want to Starve Government – The same people who demand tax cuts and deregulation insist that government should reduce its revenue (taxation) and limit its ability to grow, even as demand for public services increases.

• If We Really Ran Government Like a Business… – We’d increase funding, expand services to meet demand, and reinvest in infrastructure. The truth is, business leaders don’t hate big government—they just hate government that serves the public instead of corporate interests.

Conclusion: Stop Buying the Myth of the “Genius CEO”

The idea that a businessman—especially one as erratic and self-serving as Musk—can fix government is rooted in the false belief that all problems can be solved with the profit motive. Government is not a business. Its purpose is not to maximize efficiency, but to ensure justice, protect the vulnerable, and provide services that the free market refuses to.

Musk is not an innovator, nor a genius, nor a visionary leader. He is a salesman with a vested interest in weakening government oversight. Letting him anywhere near public policy would be a disaster—and if history teaches us anything, it’s that billionaires don’t fix societies. They exploit them.