Look at Kanye. He has probably lost more than a billion dollars by openly becoming a (literal) Nazi. That's a significant portion of his wealth. He will probably never recover from that. He's gone from being beloved for his music to being a pariah.
I saw this to illustrate having nothing to lose I don't think is an accurate assessment. As long as you have something, you still have something to lose.
I contend that Elon hasn't really changed over the last few years (just like Kanye). So what's changed?
That's easy: the Overton window has simply moved further and further right where extreme right wing (ie alt-right) views have become mainstream. As such, those who whold those views have simply become more comfortable saying the quiet parts out loud.
You had the former president spouting QAnon conspiracies [1]. Tucker Carlson, the #1 show on America's #1 "news" network, openly pushed the idea of the Great Rplacement Theory [2]. It's truly frightening how normalized and mainstream these extreme right views have become.
> However, this does indicate a very deep flaw in our existing society i.e. giving certain individuals too much power; either via their job position or capital.
Every billionaire is a policy failure.
[1]: https://apnews.com/article/technology-donald-trump-conspirac...
[2]: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/tucker-carlson-s-great...
> You had the former president spouting QAnon conspiracies
I mean, the former president probably didn't buy into any of the shit he was actually saying. He was a registered democrat until 2009. Just look at this recent trading card thing. He's full of it, he knows he's full of it, he knows a bunch of people know he's full of it