Try a different approach – a constructive message to Elon Musk

Dear Elon,

You spoke in London last Saturday. I hear you talked about  ‘violence-riven Britain, where people in villages were at risk of rape and murder and the government was trying to cover up crimes against children’.

I  was at a football match in London that day. I caught the train  back home to my English village (last recorded murder July 1945). Nowhere in the small groups of protesters I encountered did I hear any reflection of the hatred of Muslims or the suggestion of your friend Steven Yaxley-Lennon/ Tommy Robinson  that ‘Britain was ready to fight’.  Sitting near me were two ladies who were stalwarts of their local Royal British Legion, and they were deep in discussion of the cakes each planned to make for their next event.

Back home, I caught the last night of the Proms, and witnessed the British reasserting their identity in a self-mocking rendition of Rule Britannia at the last Night of the Proms. Nobody who sang it believed that Britons ruled the waves. We are good at laughing at ourselves. You might try it.

On Sunday I attended a church service to celebrate Battle of Britain Day. Rows of young cadets from our community heard a representative of the Royal Air Force Association describe the courage and sacrifice of The Few, the pilots who defeated the Luftwaffe. These people, as young as 20, got into fighter aircraft day after day, losing their comrades and knowing that they might well be next. They were fighting against a real threat of violence – a Nazi regime determined to terrorise the countries that it invaded and to exterminate ethnic groups which got in the way of its idea of racial purity. We sang ‘I vow to Thee My Country’, a hymn which celebrates the willingness to sacrifice self for a greater cause, but ends as a paean to peace. And we sang Jerusalem in which the poet declares his hatred of the dark satanic mills and his determination to build a better society in which everyone might flourish, regardless of birth or race  in England’s green and pleasant land’.

Afterwards over coffee and home-made cake, I chatted to the young  cadets. Why had they signed up, I asked. Some had family members who recommended it. Others were interest in the STEM skills. All relished the sense of belonging and purpose that involvement had given them.  

So, Elon, you have been badly misinformed. We face many problems in this country.  But if you look at the statistics, overall there has actually been a reduction in violent crime over the last ten years.  And of course we have the great advantage that we do not make it easy for our citizens to buy lethal firearms, something which has so increased the risk of political assassination in your country. In the wake of the appalling assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Governor of Utah has made it clear that he holds social media companies heavily responsible, and a fellow republican senator, John Curtis has said ‘there’s just zero liability for what people are putting out there’.

If you are truly concerned about violence in the USA and the UK, Elon, you are actually in a unique position to do something that could reduce it. You own X, formerly Twitter. Several reports have clearly shown how the platform which you own has been directly responsible for spreading disinformation, inflaming hatred against minorities, and provoking violence in the UK. For example, Amnesty International concluded, after an in-depth study

“Our analysis shows that X’s algorithmic design and policy choices contributed to heightened risks amid a wave of anti-Muslim and anti-migrant violence observed in several locations across the UK last year, and which continues to present a serious human rights risk today,” 

You are giving us the impression that you are doing nothing about this because  you actually want to see there being more violence in our country, promoting posts that claimed ‘civil war is inevitable’.

I hope I am wrong. And may I make a constructive suggestion?  If you are really keen to see a reduction in violence in the UK, there is a huge range of positive initiatives, like the RAF Cadets, which are working to give young people a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose and a sense of hope.

My own Tomorrow’s Company has set up the Tomorrow’s Enterprise Foundation This runs programmes in schools that open the eyes of young people, especially those who don’t shine academically,  to the potential of starting their own business. A local friend of mine, Rex Bourne, is the founder of the excellent 4-22 Foundation in Tottenham, offering skills and help to many of the young people not in education, employment or training. I would be delighted to introduce you to many more pioneers whose work is making violence less likely and civil cohesion stronger. You could talk to the formidable Dame Julia Cleverdon who has a lifetime of experience  and achievement in increasing the life chances of the disadvantaged and helping young people flourish.

You will find British people understandably upset when an overseas entrepreneur, however successful, shows little knowledge of how our country works, but helps those who spread untruths about us and foments discord in our country.

Try a different approach.  I am sure we would welcome you if you wanted to invest some of your wealth in helping us constructively tackling the shortcomings we readily admit our country has.

Kind regards

Mark Goyder

Mark Goyder is the Founder of Tomorrow’s Company and Senior Advisor to the Board Intelligence Think Tank. He is the co-author, with Ong Boon Hwee, of Entrusted – Stewardship For Responsible Wealth Creation, published by World Scientific.