The year is 2125 and an AI-powered hologram of Elon Musk is CEO of The World, Inc. Nation states are defunct and “citizens” an outdated concept. Now people function more like non-voting shareholders of heavily armed corporations. Anyone who dares to criticise Lord Musk is sentenced to death in a burning Tesla.

This isn’t my poor attempt at science fiction (apart from some creative licence around the AI Musk and Tesla executions). Rather, it’s a simplified approximation of the world Curtis Yarvin, Silicon Valley’s favourite thinker, wants to usher in. Yarvin, whose “dark enlightenment” ideas have influenced the Trump administration and political kingmakers such as Peter Thiel, believes super-rich elites should have dictatorial powers; universities and the press shouldn’t hold any sway; and the hoi polloi should suck it all up.

Musk is not a straightforward disciple of Yarvin, but both believe governments should be treated as corporations and share disdain for liberal democracy and “woke” institutions. Both also have a raze-and-rebuild approach to the world. Indeed, long before Musk launched his........

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