Musk is a snake oil salesman, con artist, and an unprincipled egomaniac. He’s turned Twitter into aright wing conspiracy theory cesspit. And no one’s going to Mars ffs. Shame on the scientific community for not calling him out in that particular river of bullshit.
You talk a lot of sense on here LTL - well done. Must admit I’ve been surprised at the aggressive sniping by some of the more moderates on here (not so much by the others). Yes, we have no choice anyway, so let’s see what he brings - he’s definitely a knob but he’s also full of bluster & hopefully won’t go full Trump.
Once again, this just shows that all you do is listen to propaganda. All of your views have been given to you by the media. If you actually look at what he is achieved, the calibre of his leadership, the effectiveness of his decisions time after time.. you will realise what an amazing man he is. Esch success he has pretty much gambled his net worth every time. The risk taking, the balls then the work ethic to make each one a success is incredible. I think for you to come out with **** nonsense. you just don’t understand how difficult it is to run a business.
I know you're just waiting for someone to say "not so much with Twitter", so I will say it. That's not been a success. Granted his work with PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX has been very impressive (and xAI to extent). But Twitter hasn't. That's not me saying "he's ****" by any stretch - everyone can make mistakes. It's me bringing a bit of balance in, because it should be noted that Twitter has been a very expensive **** up.
I didn’t say he was bad at business, I said he was a terrible human being. And I think it’s a sad indictment of society’s values, when monstrous egomaniacs like Musk and Trump are considered role models by large numbers of people.
The biggest issue I see is that Musk & Trump are businessmen. Yep successful ones at that (ignore the Trump bankruptcies, as in fairness there is high risk and reward at business - you have to have the 'balls' as Os said to get out there and try it). But that is the issue. They are businessmen. A country has an economy (a business), but running a country is so much more than the economy. You can't run a country like a business.
It’s number 1 on the App Store. He’s actually improved the user ratings. Plus the most important thing - he’s broken the censorship regime, restored free speech and helped win the election. How would you consider that a failure?
This is why I think they will be successful. A country should be run like a business imo. Certainly by putting businesses first, GDP per capita will increase therefore people’s lives will improve. One of trumps biggest aims is to bring energy pricing down for Americans. That would help everyone there so much. Our moronic politicians don’t even have that as a stated aim. In fact - they’re actively pushing prices up.
But running a business is all about profit - you look after your workers, but they are not your primary focus. Running a country you have to make a profit, but your workers (ie the population) are your focus. Business people just won't do that. Have a look how Musk for example treats his staff. I know you are going to say 'propaganda' once again, so I am beating my head against a brick wall, but you get my point.
He overpaid for it by a huge amount, because it was an ego purchase. It’s conservatively lost 70% of its value. It’s a bonfire of madness and a funnel for disinformation. It’s a gift to those with nefarious intent. By any reasonable measurement it’s a disaster. Look, there’s no doubt Musk is a very capable and intelligent man. The problem with him occurs, as it does with most people, when his ego outstrips his sense. That happened with Twitter. My fear is that this new involvement with Trump is a similar ego > sense play. But let’s see. Hopefully I’m wrong.
No, I actually do agree. I think Musk is a demanding boss. But I still think that’s what a country needs. Strong leadership, building for the future. Citizens need to be given hope and told “go out and work. And you will succeed”. I agree with most of what you’re saying here. That’s just what I want for the West. To be great. A huge part of the problem here is nihilism
I still think you’re missing the bigger picture. You are still burying your head in the sand about how bad the censorship was before Musk. People were banned for voicing the slightest centrist opinions. His purchase has literally changed the world.
I saw it with my own eyes. I was banned for literally saying: “I think that covid lockdowns need to be thought about more deeply. The risks outweigh the rewards”. That exact tweet got me banned. People were being banned for simply saying they were conservatives. Look at Reddit where this is still happening. There isn’t a single proper conservative on Reddit anymore as they’re all banned. These things shift the Overton window globally. Musk has made free speech possible.
The problem with twitter and free speech is that although I applaud free speech, on twitter free speech = talking **** in the main. I have no issue with that personally as I think I am good at filtering out the crap, but others don't and then take it further. Don't get me wrong, I don't want free speech to be banned and love the fact we have it, but fact checking it somehow so disinformation isn't spread.
Free speech is the foundation of everything. It’s very difficult to overstate just how important it is. Ideas should be challenged and questioned. Discussions lead to peaceful resolutions. Censorship gives governments the ability to do whatever they like. If only one side is allowed to voice their ideas, it has huge repercussions. I honestly think the world would be less insane now without the mass censorship that went on across social media for years. The woke ideology wouldn’t be anywhere near as strong as it is, which wouldn’t have led to the massive backlash we are seeing now. For like 4-5 years no one could challenge the government’s ideas as the right had no voice without being banned. For example; it’s very possible that the narrative around lockdowns would have been completely different if people were actually allowed to discuss them
Weird. I just went on twitter, backed up to pre-Musk, and found there are literally tens of thousands of posts saying exactly what got you banned. Hmm…
