Open Path

by Chad Whitacre

The Birth of the American Empire

By Chad Whitacre ❧ Published on February 3, 2025
tl;dr We may have just witnessed the end of the Republic, with the accession of Augustus Musk.
Disclosure / advertisement: I work for Sentry.

Yesterday I commented on point four of Elon Musk’s “Fork in the Road” document. “Fork” is a technical term in Open Source software that refers to a schism in the community behind a project. Unfolding developments suggest that point four may indeed signal the end of the rule of law in the United States of America. What comes after? Empire.

Hail Caesar

Elon thinks about the Roman Empire every day. His supporters call his controversial gesture at the inauguration a Roman salute.

Hail Caesar!

The Roman Republic gave way to the Roman Empire in 27 BC, when Octavian took the title Augustus Caesar:

The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult, as well as an era of imperial peace (the Pax Romana or Pax Augusta) in which the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict.

Elon’s Twitter bio once read “Imperator of Mars.” Imperator is a “title conferred by the Roman senate on Julius Caesar and Augustus and adopted by later successors.”

I strongly suspect that in Elon’s mind, January 20, 2025 was the end of the American Republic, and the birth of the American Empire. I suspect he thinks of himself as having forked the United States as Octavian did Rome.

So What?

If Elon has essentially succeeded in forking America into an empire under his Caesar-ship, what does it mean? Here are a few brief comments on what may turn out to have been one of the pivotal moments of human history:

  1. Many will accept Musk’s rise to power as good news.

  2. I don’t see this change being forcibly reverted in the short term. The next election will be a critical test.

  3. Unlike Rome, this transition happened without an overt war (so far), which is good.

  4. Elon seems to me likely to succeed in making the U.S. more efficient and effective, based on his success with Twitter and his other companies.

  5. Once consolidated, Elon is likely to use his new power primarily to pursue his interplantary agenda.

  6. In empires, succession is often inefficient. Clearly Musk has positioned himself to succeed (preempt?) Trump. Who succeeds Musk? According to what process?

  7. It hasn’t happened yet, but Elon indicated he would return Twitter to a public company after reorganizing it as X. Is there a world in which he returns the U.S. to a republic once he has run his course?

  8. This is a salient time to worship a deity other than Caesar.

🥺