So this line has become famous lately since Elon Musk has been using it to reinstate banned Twitter accounts in the latest episode of the Birdsite Drama.
I'm not going to get into any opinion piece on what I think of this development but if you haven't joined us on Mastodon yet, do it now!.
I prefer instead to use this real life example to talk about writing great villains. Great not in that they are that oh-so-fun sexy, witty, well-dressed villain that you love to hate. Great in that they look crass and stupid but their villainry is actually quite sophisticated. You can debate whether they do it because they're aware and ruminate dastardly plans or because someone else advises them or simply because they're what in Greek we call “daft but conniving” (there's no English word equivalent for this concept) but you can't debate that Elon Musk is currently dealing the concept of democracy a potentially nasty blow.
So why, supposedly, is Musk reinstating all the banned accounts like the Joker opening the doors to Arkham Asylum? 
Because, he claims, the people will it. Vox Populi, Vox Dei (Voice of the people, voice of God).
At first glance, and for people that won't really sit around to think much of it, how does it look? That a mob of rabid users voted to make Twitter a pretty deregulated place (whether the “gates of hell” opened as the article I linked to claims or not is up to you to decide. Fact does remain that a lot of misinformation is bound to exponentially multiply now).
Assuming that people hate this development, what will they think? That democracy = mob rule. It's no accident that Musk uses the phrase “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” because the full quote warns against exactly that: Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, vox populi, vox dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit. or in English We should not listen to those who like to affirm that the voice of the people is the voice of God, for the tumult of the masses is truly close to madness..
So what is best? Gag the crowds that are mad and make stupid decisions by vote, and allow the few grounded people of the world decide for everyone else.
It's not an argument that hasn't already been made, after all. However, this is flawed on so many levels it's …beautifully villainous. A great paradigm for a great villain character.
Let's take Musk's poll: How has he made sure troll and sock puppet accounts haven't made it so one person has like a hundred votes? How has he made sure bots don't vote by the thousands? It is said he's been suspending accounts left and right, how about their vote? Did he make this mandatory for every single account in the whole of Twitter to vote? Or even for 70%? How about 60%? Did he make sure each IP only votes once?
Probably not. But even if he had, it still wouldn't be enough.
A poll, any poll, much more his, is not a legitimate voting process. It's not even good enough for a statistics presentation for a college freshman, because it's compromised, with a very biased sample to say just a couple of problems.
Elections, on the other hand, are designed to have integrity (though how easily that is undermined is another story, and not the point right now): only adults can vote, the entire population (or those with full citizenship) can and is encouraged to vote, everyone is ensured to only get one vote, and to cast it in complete privacy even from their family. Or at least, that's how it should be for a minimum baseline to exist for democratic rule.
But even that wouldn't be enough, supposing Musk could magically secure all of that for all the world.
How many people are educated (and when I say educated I mean objectively informed) about the question being asked? Have they been informed about the projected ramifications of option A vs. option B or is it assumed that they'd know or be able to infer it? Are all messages in a controversial topic disseminated equally and with equal signal strength?
There's been a ton of research on this and the answer is no. Twitter is a highly manipulated social medium where violence and hostility is actively cultivated.
Voting is a process that is specifically designed for people to participate in such ways that mob behavior (what the latin quote Vox Populi, Vox Dei warns of) can break down and a person can vote how they want with impunity.
Twitter doesn't have these conditions. On the contrary, it's flawed in every way there is when it comes to democratic discourse. It's a really bad example to use when talking about “the voice of the people”.
But would that be immediately visible to someone not acquainted with what democracy really means, or how elections aren't polls, or how a biased sample works, or how their potential circumstance of only having one account and having voted once in Musk's tweet doesn't mean everyone else did the same?
And how convenient would it be for someone to present this silly procedure as democratic if they were seeking to undermine the value of democracy, in a neoliberal system that seeks to use the state (the stronger the better) for profit of the few at the loss of the many? A neoliberal system that has been very good to them, by the way?
If they wanted the voice of the people, they'd let them unionize. They'd let them think for themselves by avoiding emotionally charged language and questionable rhetoric. They'd give them the time to think, the time to listen to all arguments, the time to evaluate what is good for them. The energy and feeling of safety required to sit down and do all this thinking (try thinking like that after working two jobs and returning to a house where you need to clean up or see to the children).
They'd teach critical thinking in schools.
Yes; Vox Populi, Vox Dei.
So best shout over it. ;) What's more perfect than a villain that says they do exactly what they are fighting against? Make villains like that in your comic.
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 26, 2022
13 likes!
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Hapoppo at 6:14AM, Nov. 27, 2022
The polls Musk put out may not be perfect, but it honestly amazes me that we're sitting here discussing whether he's some kind of supervillain because he actually made an effort to approach it democratically, while the other guys were just like, "Oops, this one's too right wing. *BANNED*" Honestly, the whole article reads like "Democracy is a good thing so long as I get the outcome I want".
Hapoppo at 6:10AM, Nov. 27, 2022
@Tantz I didn't ask for a definition, I was asking for examples of how Musk is this demagogue as it relates to Bravo's post where he suggests the dangers of a "demagogue who controls the press" -and maybe I'm misunderstanding him here, because it honestly sounds like he's defending Musk here. Twitter has had a history of banning mostly Conservative people for dubious reasons, if any at all, including the likes of Carl Benjamin, Project Veritas, and the Babylon Bee. They allowed people to scream "Russian collusion!!!" for years and then fact checked a Yonex who dared question the integrity of the 2020 election. And thanks to an admission from Mark Zuckerberg, we even know the FBI approached a variety of social media platforms as soon as the Hunter Biden laptop story broke - something they KNEW was real - and said "look out for misinformation WINK WINK" to which the platforms happily said "Sure thing NUDGE NUDGE". And hey, you were all happy with it because it supporte your opinions.
plymayer at 4:18AM, Nov. 27, 2022
Some folks would not know tyranny if it covered their faces, locked them in their homes, enacted the biggest wealth transfer in history, censored their speech, made them show their papers and force medicated them.
bravo1102 at 3:46AM, Nov. 27, 2022
Tantz: McCarthy? Try the Alien and Sedition acts enacted way back in the presidency of John Adams. It's been a long fight and the battle lines go back and forth which is why one must remain vigilant. One of the best weapons is a firm grounding in knowledge of history and knowing that every time the threat has loomed that free speech brought down the demagogue like it did Joe McCarthy.
Ozoneocean at 3:41AM, Nov. 27, 2022
Yeah, "free speech" means you can't be arrested just for saying stuff and having opinions: you can't be persecuted by the government. But even that isn't totally free since there ARE things you can "say" that will still get you jailed or fined. Stuff that private companies run isn't included in the free speech umbrella (i.e twitter etc), obviously, so talking about free speech in that context is just a non sequitur. Trump and Elon Musk ban people from platforms too, always have. They're super dooper happy to do that and have never not done it. There are plenty of workers that would like to have their say much were gagged legally from speaking. The "Free Speech" angle is very, very, very silly in this context.
Tantz_Aerine at 3:08AM, Nov. 27, 2022
Hapoppo: that's not what "demagogue" means (i.e. one controlling the press). Here's the definition: 1. a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument. 2. rhetorically exploit (an issue) for political purposes in a way calculated to appeal to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people. Elon Musk fits this definition, if nothing else by his appeal to specific desires and prejudices that he's touching upon to sell his product. As for free speech: Sorry to break it to anyone who thinks the USA stands for it, but after McCarthy to say the least, there's proof in the pudding that at least SOME solid percentage of the population is happy to suppress it if it's suppressing things they disapprove of.
Tantz_Aerine at 3:02AM, Nov. 27, 2022
Corruption: no, "crazy like a fox" has an entirely different connotation. :)
bravo1102 at 1:13AM, Nov. 27, 2022
One person's demagogue is another person's great hero of the ages. Freedom fighter or revolutionary it's a matter of what you're told and believe. Sounds like conspiratorial thinking. Well a little paranoia is fine just don't draw too many conclusions from ephemeral evidence. O keep the razors sharp both Occam's razor and Hitchen's razor.
hushicho at 12:39AM, Nov. 27, 2022
plymayer, you're just jumping ignorantly, unsurprisingly, on invented and unsubstantiated pieces of unreliable information. Where are you getting this nonsense? From twitter themselves? From Musk? From fellow trump morons? No, you're probably just pulling it out of your ass, even though these claims are irrelevant anyway. Those things, if they are even true, are more likely to reflect the very human tendency of gathering to watch a disaster go down that can be easily seen coming.
hushicho at 9:48PM, Nov. 26, 2022
Got to love anonymous idiots so confident in their stupid nonsense that they have to hide like scared babies. Musk is a demagogue. Trump attempted to be a demagogue. Incidentally, freedom of speech is not what a lot of people seem to believe it is. It doesn't mean there are no consequences for saying something. It means the government isn't supposed to be allowed to suppress your public criticism. In any case, Musk and Twitter are going down in flames together, and I couldn't be more pleased. This is what Musk's idea of integrity is, and this is what it costs to be approved by him. He's trash, and though Twitter before him was bad enough, their mutual malefic idiocy is destroying them both. What a joy of a disaster.
plymayer at 9:44PM, Nov. 26, 2022
New user signups are at an all time high on Twitter. So is user active minutes. He's not worried. Nor should he be.
Ironscarf at 7:00PM, Nov. 26, 2022
Musk has already banned several people whose opinion he didn't like and if he keeps losing money at the current rate, you'll have to pay to use the site before long. So much for free speech.
anonymous at 5:36PM, Nov. 26, 2022
Musk is saving Twitter by bringing back free speech. Honestly, he should do the same for other platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I'll bet you any amount of money that if Biden was banned and then Musk announced that he'd be reinstated, a lot of people would be cheering. You talk about misinformation multiplying as a result of Musk reinstating these Twitter accounts? Misinformation already has been running rampant over the past few years and the people responsible are called "heroes". Jason Moon makes a good point, maybe we should have a vigilante or two similar to the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. Maybe then would this country actually be known as one of free speech again and not a dumpster fire.
Hapoppo at 11:24AM, Nov. 26, 2022
@bravo1102 Are you implying Elon Musk is that demagogue? If so, can you list all the members of the press he controls, and how he directly influenced them?
bravo1102 at 10:58AM, Nov. 26, 2022
The power of free speech is that it will bring down a demagogue as fast as it sets one up. With free speech one has the liberty to proclaim that The emperor has no clothes. But if the demagogue controls the press well there's a problem. The press has to be free and open so alternative voices can be heard. Caesar or Robespierre only remains in power so long as he controls opinion. Dissent will kill them, often literally.
bravo1102 at 10:52AM, Nov. 26, 2022
He who is willing to sacrifice his liberty for a little safety deserves neither liberty nor safety. But Franklin also warned the new government would be "A republic, if you can keep it" Republics have a nasty habit of ending up dictatorships because of some charismatic type appealing to the people. That Vox poluli quote was the result of actual events.
plymayer at 9:51AM, Nov. 26, 2022
Without free speech, this site could not exist as we know it. It would just be another platform to sell things.
plymayer at 9:48AM, Nov. 26, 2022
In a country like the United States where "free speech" is a cornerstone, it has to apply to everyone or it isn't really free speech. Fighting for the right of those who disagree with us to have free speech is even more important than fighting for those who agree with us. If you don't like what someone has to say, don't listen to them. Banning concepts and ideas is what dictators, nazi and commies do. Not free people.
Jason Moon at 9:08AM, Nov. 26, 2022
I wish there was a true "Daredevil" who could hurt these guys. A real trained Charlie Cox, Vigilante.
Ozoneocean at 7:30AM, Nov. 26, 2022
I don't think "Crazy like a Fox" is quite right... That describes a person who as "method to their madness" to paraphrasing Shakespeare 😅 I think Musk like Trump and a lot of others don't have plans, they just wing it and see what happens. Strategically it's great if you have the ability to do that (i.e. the financial resources and power), but sooner or later you'll cause problems that your power and money can't fix.
Corruption at 7:07AM, Nov. 26, 2022
“Daft but conniving”? I do believe you mean, as we English speakers sometimes use "Crazy like a fox." There is a saying "You can't fool all of the people all of the time." However, there is an addition most people ignore "You only need to fool enough of them long enough."
Ozoneocean at 4:48AM, Nov. 26, 2022
Great post Tantz! Really interesting take on villainy.
bravo1102 at 12:59AM, Nov. 26, 2022
Read thr history of the Roman Republic and it's a lot of promises and manipulation of public opinion and then using that public mandate to enforce action. Scary stuff. Cicero and Seneca warned us ages ago. The guys who wrote the US Constitution constructed it to avoid that easily manipulated Vox populi having too much power. But alas power corrupts and what is more powerful that a truly popular mandate? 1789 anyone? Jacobites, guillotines and reigns of terror.
InkyMoondrop at 12:23AM, Nov. 26, 2022
Musk probably fancies himself as some Randian hero. A pinoeer, a maverick of sort. Acting all cool, bringing back accounts to build his fan club to generate more twitter traffic, because if people have to trash him at least he should profit off of it. But I don't think this endeavour has a great future. Impulsivity, false democracy and being profit-oriented can generate controversy but controversy alone won't save the site and his business once most major public figures with self respect find viable alternatives.