What’s New
After a yearslong silence on the social media platform once called Twitter and now X, Occupy Wall Street has written a post expressing the movement’s support for Elon Musk this week.
In a post published on Wednesday, the first on the platform since March 28, 2020, the movement shared pictures of its members and Musk wearing “Occupy Mars” T-shirts, writing: “We shall be the first interplanetary social movement. Thank you @SpaceX and @elonmusk for carrying our legacy to the stars.”
Newsweek contacted Occupy Wall Street for comment via the movement’s press contact page and SpaceX by the company’s press email on Thursday morning.
Why It Matters
The movement’s apparent support for Musk comes as something of a surprise considering the billionaire’s prospected role in Trump’s administration and Occupy Wall Street’s criticism of the collusion between money and power, and the influence of these on our democracy. Musk has reportedly spent more than a quarter-billion dollars between donations and advertisements to help Trump get elected in November.
What to Know
Musk, the billionaire owner of X, Tesla, and SpaceX, was recently spotted wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Occupy Mars” at a Donald Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, during the candidate’s presidential campaign, years after he first wore a T-shirt with the motto.
“Occupy Mars” refers to Musk’s ambitions to transform Mars into the first human colony in space, transporting people to the Red Planet through SpaceX rockets. In a recent post on X, the billionaire wrote that “becoming multiplanetary is critical to ensuring the long-term survival of humanity and all life as we know it.”
Protesters march near the New York Stock Exchange, marking the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, on September 17, 2012 in New York City. After a yearslong silence on social media, Occupy Wall Street wrote a post of support for Elon Musk on X this week.
John Moore/Getty Images
Occupy Wall Street, a left-wing movement protesting against economic inequality and corporate greed, emerged in September 2011 in New York City as a revolutionary and disruptive force. Despite its relevance at the time, the protest died down within 59 days, some saying that the movement failed to live up to its revolutionary potential and others saying it changed the way we see ties between money and democracy.
Now, it seems that the movement, or what’s left of it, supports Musk’s dreams of space exploration and transforming humanity into a “space-faring civilization.”
What People Are Saying
The movement’s support for Musk’s dream to colonize Mars has received some criticism on X, where some have accused Occupy Wall Street of having been “infiltrated and compromised,” and others said the account should be given to “someone who actually represents Occupy.” Several users asked if the movement’s profile on X had been bought by a third party.
Occupy Wall Street has responded by saying that “it should come as no surprise that the folks who were brave enough to occupy Zuccotti Park would also be excited about occupying Valles Marineris too.” Valles Marineris, located along Mars’ equator, is the largest canyon in the Solar System.
In previous statements, Musk has suggested that he would not implement existing international laws on Mars. According to the terms of service of SpaceX’s Starlink internet project, published in 2020, Musk’s self-sustaining city on Mars would adhere to “self-governing principles, established in good faith” and agreed on the Red Planet, not on Earth. In fact, according to SpaceX, “no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities.”
What’s Next
While Musk has repeatedly expressed his plan to create a self-sustaining human colony on Mars, the project does not yet have a clear timeline.