Anyone familiar with film or television is probably aware of the phrase breaking the fourth wall. It refers to any point where the veil cast between the audience and the events of the film is disrupted, the actors indicating to us that this is all an act they are no longer playing along with.
I like to apply this phrase to other scenarios. Humans instinctually create systems, rules, stories, et cetera. To have the capacity to follow these systems as if they were laws of the natural universe is what elevates us from all else. But when an actor participating in a system makes the deliberate action to break its rules, to leap across the barriers and act like they are no longer bound — in a sense the fourth wall of that system has been shattered.
This brings us to current events — to Elon Musk’s and DOGE’s forcible takeover of multiple crucial federal agencies, all in the name of cutting corruption and inefficiencies. What we are seeing is an unprecedented demolition of the fourth wall of our delicate checks and balances system. Appointees and civil servants are being fired en masse and replaced with loyalists, protocols are being completely disregarded, and the ultimate lynchpin of fund dispersement has been backdoored.
To be sure — the executive branch breaking the law is nothing new in American history. We’ve had our share of Hardings, Nixons, and Jackson’s. But what makes this event a historic fourth wall break is the contempt and shamelessness with which laws are being completely disregarded.
An un-elected, unconfirmed citizen has been given full reign to dismantle the cogs of government. Musk is carrying out actions that the executive branch has no authority to carry out, that only Congress could undo. And he’s gleefully posting about it on Twitter as if he isn’t committing textbook treason But when you have the president’s approval stamp, who is going to stop you?
Government is the crucial element in the existence of human society, but it’s also essentially a LARP. And when things break down the power will always fall at feet of wealth and force.
The world’s richest man has decided he doesn’t want to play by our system, he wants to stick his hands and team of gen Z interns in PI databases and Treasury-operating systems. And while Trump is no stranger to blatantly breaking the law, we’ve seen his cronies face consequences in the past — see Bannon and Flynn.
But money has always allowed one to outrun the law and its consequences. Pardons aside, Musk’s unfathomable wealth means not even the descension of George Washington himself from the heavens, here to correct every iniquity committed, will mean Musk sees justice for his actions.
The fourth wall’s structural integrity is in question at this point. And this dangerous precedent is inching us closer to a system of oligarchy that historians would warn against.
Among the general public no one is talking about this. The adherents of law and order don’t care that a “wealthy elite” has marched into our core infrastructure and is acting unimpeded. Why should anyone be concerned about the CEO of automotive, spaceflight, artificial intelligence, and broadband companies having the ability to impact transportation, space exploration, privacy, and online censorship policy?
I’m left feeling like Leonardo DiCaprio in Don’t Look Up.