The advantage of indignation is it leaves you with a clear conscience, without any form of further analysis. The words spoken by Elon Musk at the “Unite the Kingdom” rally organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson this month sparked widespread outrage among politicians. Downing Street condemned the tech boss for using “dangerous and inflammatory” language, after he told the crowd that “violence is coming” and “you either fight back or you die”. The Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has appealed to other political forces to “put party politics aside” and join him in condemning Musk’s call for a dissolution of parliament. Even Peter Kyle, the business minister who had distinguished himself for his unapologetic submission to tech bosses, adopted the attitude of the betrayed spouse, judging that Musk’s comments were “slightly incomprehensible” and “totally inappropriate”.
義憤的好處在于,它讓人無需做任何進一步分析也能問心無愧。本月在極右翼活動人士湯米?魯賓遜(Tommy Robinson)主辦的“聯(lián)合王國”集會上,埃隆?馬斯克(Elon Musk)的言論在政界引發(fā)廣泛憤慨。唐寧街(Downing Street)譴責這位科技大亨使用“危險且煽動性”的語言,因為他對人群宣稱“暴力就要來了,要么反擊,要么等死”。自由民主黨(Liberal Democrat)領袖埃德?戴維(Ed Davey)呼吁其他政治力量“把黨派政治放在一邊”,與他一道譴責馬斯克呼吁解散議會。就連一向以對科技巨頭毫不掩飾地俯首帖耳而知名的商務大臣彼得?凱爾(Peter Kyle),也擺出受背叛配偶的姿態(tài),稱馬斯克的言論“有些難以理解”,且“完全不合適”。