In Walter Isaacson’s new biography, Elon Musk, only a brief mention is made of Musk’s grandfather, Joshua N. Haldeman, a Canadian chiropractor. According to Isaacson, Haldeman was a daredevil adventurer with strong opinions and quirky conservative populist views. However, in 1950, Haldeman made an unusual decision to leave Canada for South Africa due to his belief that the Canadian government was exerting too much control and that the country had become weak.

One of the reasons behind this drastic change was Haldeman’s strong support for the apartheid regime in South Africa. He believed that South Africa would lead the “White Christian Civilization” in its fight against what he called the “International Conspiracy” of Jewish bankers and the controlled “hordes of Coloured people”. Haldeman’s arrival in South Africa was treated as a victory for apartheid by the far-right Afrikaner newspaper, Die Transvaler.

Haldeman expressed his beliefs in a self-published book titled The International Conspiracy to Establish a World Dictatorship and the Menace to South Africa. In the book, he expressed his belief that South Africa would become the leader of the White Christian Civilization in its fight against anti-Christian and anti-White forces. Before moving to South Africa, Haldeman was involved in a fringe political movement called Technocracy Incorporated, which advocated for the end of democracy and rule by a small technologically advanced elite.

It is important to note that Elon Musk’s grandfather’s beliefs and actions should not be attributed to Musk himself. Musk’s father, Errol Musk, was a member of the Progressive Federal Party, which opposed apartheid. However, it is worth considering Haldeman’s problematic ideologies in light of Musk’s recent controversies involving antisemitism. As Musk engages in public battles with Jewish institutions, it is unsettling to see similarities between his views and those expressed by his grandfather.

Musk’s recent tweet about George Soros and his insinuations about a wealthy Jewish financier manipulating African migrants echoes his grandfather’s rhetoric. While Musk may not share all his grandfather’s beliefs, it is concerning to see such views repeated within the family.

Joshua Norman Haldeman was born in 1902 in a log cabin in Minnesota. His mother, Almeda Haldeman, was the first chiropractor known to practice in Canada. After a few years in chiropractic work, Haldeman became a farmer but lost his farm during the Great Depression. He then became involved in radical political movements, first supporting the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and later embracing Technocracy, a belief system that called for a scientific replacement of democracy.

Technocracy gained attention during a politically tumultuous time in the United States, between Roosevelt’s election in 1932 and his taking office in 1933. With the country in turmoil and some Americans yearning for a strongman, Howard Scott, a scientist and engineer, introduced the concept of Technocracy. It advocated for greater state involvement in the economy and the replacement of democracy with a scientific system of governance.