Interest Group Analysis: Untangling The Web of Corruption Part 1
Breaking down the science of rabbit holes
All social conflicts involve interests. A person's interest is a vector of power; it is his attitude plus its strength towards producing effects. A social power is a social interest, that is, one oriented towards other selves. And social conflict is the opposition and balancing of such interests. - R.J. Rummel
In an increasingly sophisticated and tangled web of special interests, along with concentrations of power in an age of unrestrained wealth accumulation, it becomes of primary interest to the people that they understand the goings on of their government, the client class of billionaires and mega corporations and how this might affect their lives.
Special interests generally seek to hide their true motives, as their true motives generally oppose the interests of the many. They hide it behind things generally considered socially acceptable, amusing or amenable i.e. slogans, philanthropic work, technological progress, public relations, or conspiracy theories. Of those, the spread of conspiracies are most dangerous, because they are indeterminate—you can’t prove or disprove them, but they sound plausible to certain audiences. Magnified by social media, they become devastating rumors.
The first step in detangling this web is asking a basic question about the group or individual in question: what are they touching, stopping or changing? Interest group analysis is composed of 2 phases. I call the first phase, “operative analysis” the activities the subject is partaking in. Operative analysis answers the “who”, “what” , “how” and “where” of the subject in question.
We can apply this question to any individual or any group, and I would start my initial analysis on the most obvious subject: Elon Musk. A man whom the public somehow knows everything about, and simultaneously, nothing at all.
The Open Secrets of Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s empire spans industries he self-designates as critical to humanity’s future: electric vehicles (Tesla), space exploration (SpaceX), neural interfaces (Neuralink), satellite internet (Starlink), and social media (X, formerly Twitter). His public persona oscillates between “techno-utopian visionary” and “disruptive provocateur,” but operative analysis—examining what he actively reshapes—reveals deeper patterns of power consolidation and influence.
A look on the site Open Secrets, reveals the furious frequency with which Musk has been active in campaign donations in recent years. Giving himself colorful titles like “Special Agent” and “Rocket Manufacturer”, he has gone on record donating 308 times, in varying amounts, over a roughly 23 year period. Contrary to his claims of abandoning the Democrats due “moving to his left”, he has donated to Republicans from the very beginning, since at least 2002. What’s more, his donation activity seems to have picked up in 2024, not donating anything in the intervening years since 2021, then suddenly giving large amounts to the National Republican Congressional Committee.
But what’s far more interesting were the amounts given to Democrats fairly recently—like Governor Gavin Newsom. In 2018, Musk donated $5,000 and $6,800.00 to what appears to be Gavin Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign. A little digging reveals the clue—Tesla received an estimated $3.2 billion in California EV subsidies from the years 2009-2022. While Newsom has only been Governor since 2019, he served as Lt. Governor from 2011-2019. Since Tesla shares form the bulk of his wealth, Newsom and Governor Brown’s pro-EV policies essentially built Musk’s immense billion dollar fortune. A targeted $11,000 campaign donation is a pittance, given that kind of ROI. Why not do it over and over again?
Touch ‘n Go Cowboy Capitalism
Delving into Elon’s political and financial activities a clear pattern is beginning to emerge: donations given to politicians friendly to his business interests, regardless of party. However, this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of Musk’s apparent self-dealing, from small town Texas to big town DC politics.
Taking our analysis to Musk’s activities in the state of Texas, reveals a few interesting finds. It appears Musk has been busy in his newly incorporated company town of Starbase, Texas. What was once the unincorporated Boca Chica Village is now, after a May 2025 vote, officially the city of Starbase. This move, largely decided by SpaceX employees who make up 260 of it’s 283 eligible residents, effectively solidifies SpaceX's control over local governance, zoning, and public access.
Musk’s involvement of Texas politics doesn’t start and end with SpaceX. It winds and trails to Tesla as well. Tesla has received $65,000,000 in tax breaks from the city of Austin to build Cybertrucks.
The weight of Musk’s activities are felt in a way that is reminiscent of the 18th century robber barons—where “capitalism” byword for subsidies, backroom deals and tax breaks.
Trail of Suspicion
Analyzing Musk’s activities via the mysterious government initiative known as DOGE, reveals a trail of suspicious firings. While operating as head of DOGE, Musk fired 2 EEOC commissioners and a general counsel, the chair of the National Labor Relations Board, an inspector general at the U.S. Department of Transportation, The administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, the administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the heads of at least 5 other government agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In total, he’s fired the head of 9 different agencies.
After that, the trail goes cold, or does it?
Next, we’ll look into the probable “why’s” of Musk’s actions with what I call “causative analysis” by looking at patterns and slowly the larger picture will begin to converge on something we all suspected, but couldn’t quite put our fingers on.