Tech Won't Save Us Muskism is the New Fordism w/ Ben Tarnoff & Quinn Slobodian
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May 7, 2026 
Quinn Slobodian, a Boston University historian of political economy, and Ben Tarnoff, a writer and technologist, discuss their book Muskism. They trace how a tech-centered ideology reshapes state ties, finance, and manufacturing. Conversations cover vertical integration, social media-driven consent, AI as an ideological chokepoint, and the shift from mass social contracts to fortress futurism.
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Muskism Offers A Thin Social Contract
- Muskism mixes vertical integration and state partnership to create a thin social contract compared with Fordism's mass production plus mass consumption deal.
- Quinn Slobodian argues Musk's model lacks incentives to secure broad social consent, making it volatile.
Musk Often Anticipates Political Economic Shifts
- Musk acts as an indicator species who radicalizes broader trends: bringing production in-house, courting states, and shifting toward hard tech before peers.
- Ben Tarnoff shows Musk often arrives early at new political-economic inflection points like the Gigafactory model.
Gigafactory Served Multiple Nationalist Projects
- Musk used the Gigafactory to serve both U.S. and foreign nationalist goals by offering modular tech that could be localized in Shanghai or Germany.
- Quinn Slobodian cites the Gigafactory as an example of Musk splitting the difference between nationalism and globalism.
