Elon Musk trying to buy Twitter (edit: deal has been finalized)

[MakeNTGreatAgain]

He didn't start PayPal or Tesla either. He bought into them.

He's a rich fraud plain and simple. But America has this weird obsession with oligarchs so people praise him.

obsession with white dudes

uh who said that he did?

my bad, i didn't mean that

 

[MakeNTGreatAgain]

Again, I just chuckle at the fact that government largesse and a first-mover advantage have been completely forgotten when people talk about Musk's business acumen

what do u mean?

 

[RustyShackleford]

what do u mean?

Feds Lend Tesla $465 Million to Build Model S

The Obama Administration will lend Tesla Motors $465 million to build an electric sedan and the battery packs needed to propel it. It’s one of three loans totaling almost $8 billion that the Department of Energy awarded today to spur the development of fuel-efficient vehicles. Energy Secretary...

www.wired.com

The Obama Administration's generous loans to Tesla allowed them to bring the Model S to market

Who knows if Elon would have been able to pull it off without that money, but getting it at that time was really important for Telsa's success

Republicans were deadset against it at the time

Furthermore, his business depends on a ton of government money...

Elon Musk is speaking out against government subsidies. Here's a list of the billions of dollars his businesses have received.

Musk's companies benefited from subsidies as recently as April, when SpaceX won a $2.89 billion contract from NASA. Tesla got subsidies for years.

www.businessinsider.com

He is really full of **** in this area

 

[RustyShackleford]

If you want an example of how self-serving Elon Musk is.

The dude's fortune is built on top of generous loans from stimulus money from Dems and Obama, passed after a recession.

12 years later the Dems try to pass another stimulus and Musk comes out against it because

a) It would help his competitors
b) He won't get cut in because of his hostility toward unions
c) He doesn't want his taxes raised

And the reason he cites is the deficit. Something he damn well really cared about. And he is aginst the no brainer plans to decrease it too

He has done to legit cool things and is forward-thinking in many way

But the dude is less of a business genius and just a basic-*** rent-seeking tech bro. Mad that the same people that help him get rich ask him to not be a low life

 

[RustyShackleford]

The 2009 election goes a different way and this is Elon Musk in front of Bill Gates in 2010, tryna get some more bread...

 

[executive76]

 

[gry60]

So he didn’t want to join the board and follow rules and own a smaller % of shares or be held to any censorship. So he buys the whole company? Is that to be appreciated or carry a sense of worry?

If you know how power has shifted between the capital class and everyone else throughout the course of American history, you'll know how to answer this question.

Some of those people crying about YouTube/Twitter censorship are fine with banning certain books from schools/not teaching about slavery etc. Yet they were mad about those Dr Suess books getting pulled.

Conservatives/religious people are the founders censorship/violating free speech. They tried to ban Harry Potter books back in the day. Fast Forward the other side wants to cancel the author.

The last sentence, I disagree with. Lego is still releasing Harry Potter stuff, from video games to toys; nobody is talking about getting all her books out of bookstores and large distributors. Her views on certain subjects are despicable, but pointing that out is far from "cancelling."

The same can be said about a lot of those folks who complain about being cancelled: Atlas Shrugged is still read and distributed, and hippy librairians will not try to keep patrons from borrowing the book even though they think Rand's philosophy is stupid. That is a far cry from passing laws to fine/jail teachers who are discussing the uncomfortable facts of American history and human biology.

 

[gry60]

By the way:

Twitter is adding an edit button

Tweets, but editable.

www.theverge.com

 

[osh kosh bosh]

I apologize in advance this may be a contrarian take but

Imo Person who builds multiple billion dollar companies



Is incredibly smart and talented.
I dunno maybe I'm dumb.

 

[Belgium]

I apologize in advance this may be a contrarian take but

Imo Person who builds multiple billion dollar companies



Is incredibly smart and talented.
I dunno maybe I'm dumb.

Obviously but who thinks otherwise? And they can be absolute morons in certain aspects, that's not contradictory.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Obviously but who thinks otherwise? And they can be absolute morons in certain aspects, that's not contradictory.

"He didn't start PayPal or Tesla either. He bought into them.

He's a rich fraud plain and simple. But America has this weird obsession with oligarchs so people praise him.
"

Personally I think that PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX are incredible accomplishments, to


and you have to be pretty smart and talented

And not simple some rich fraud to pull it off.

 

[Belgium]

"He didn't start PayPal or Tesla either. He bought into them.

He's a rich fraud plain and simple. But America has this weird obsession with oligarchs so people praise him.
"

Personally I think that PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX are incredible accomplishments, to


and you have to be pretty smart and talented

And not simple some rich fraud to pull it off.

I don't necessarily see that as contradictory. The image many people have of him is fraudulent, I think there's a big gap between buying into pre-existing products/ideas and building them from the ground up. People deify this man as if he's the next Einstein or something.

To be clear, I think his accomplishments are still very impressive either way.

 

[gry60]

I think there's a big gap between buying into pre-existing products/ideas and building them from the ground up.

Exactly.

I remember when Tesla came out with the roadster, everybody had the perception that Musk was this guy who literally built this prototype out of his garage. That is where the criticism comes from. There is a difference between being willing to take business risks and having a mind that pushes the limits of technology, and Musk portrayed himself as someone who did the latter as he was actually doing the former.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

I don't necessarily see that as contradictory. The image many people have of him is fraudulent, I think there's a big gap between buying into pre-existing products/ideas and building them from the ground up. People deify this man as if he's the next Einstein or something.

To be clear, I think his accomplishments are still very impressive either way.

So what you're saying is that there is a middle ground between over inflated fanboy vision of musk and loser/fraud version?

Well that's what I said.

lol i think there is a nuanced middle point between

Elon Musk is God Emperor tech bro and Elon musk is a Loser fraud.

And his response was

Honestly no.

fyi, when i called it the "contrarian" opinion I making a joke about my reputation for being a "contrarian"
the point is it's not contrarian

 

[ineedacape]

I got no problem with Elon, I did have a big problem with Twitter though, it being a useless app to me, but now maybe I'll get my account back...

 

[clyde the glide]

Don't really follow him enough to accurately judge but i do remember his tweets when they were trying to rescue those kids from the cave in Thailand came off a little "look at me" ish

 

[blackfrankwhite]

really don't think this is gonna impact Twitter at all outside of the usual groups & their performative "protests"

Gotta disagree, I think it kinda affects everyone.

Throughout the pandemic and the 2020 election Twitter was really the only platform that was actively stoping the spread of misinformation, whether it be medical advice, political facts, etc. Elon wants to allow this flow of misinformation to continue, under the guise of "free speech".

But for him it's really just about forming the narrative the way he wants, in whatever ways that will benefit him. This holds especially true when it comes to the stock market and economic/tax policies.

Considering how a growing number of Americans (1 out of 5 and growing) are getting their political information from social media, to say it won't have any real impact is a bit ignorant imho.

So what you're saying is that there is a middle ground between over inflated fanboy vision of musk and loser/fraud version?

Well that's what I said.



And his response was




fyi, when i called it the "contrarian" opinion I making a joke about my reputation for being a "contrarian"
the point is it's not contrarian

Because he is a fraud. He was born into a wealthy family who made their riches off of Apartheid Africa.

He used that money to invest his way into companies like PayPal and Tesla, yet people give him credit for starting these companies and making them so successful.

You honestly can't even put the success on him. His companies like Tesla and SpaceX always have and continue to be subsidized by taxpayers. There are so many examples of government handouts.

To touch on that further, every single element in SpaceX's technology platform was invented, designed, manufactured, and procured from the Dept of Defense decades before Elon was even born. As far as Tesla, they received literally billions of dollars (it was at about $5 billion back in 2015 and they've gotten way more since) to fund their EV production.

There is quite literally nothing Elon invented, not himself and not through his companies, that wasn't the result of decades of Pentagon, DoD, and other federal subsidies.

And at the end of the day, this man pays no taxes because he takes stock options instead of an income to purposely avoid them. (Go ahead tell me he paid 11 billion in taxes this year, and I'll explain how much his wealth increased in the last year to put it into perspective).



Sorry man, but Musk can suck my ****.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Because he is a fraud. He was born into a wealthy family who made their riches off of Apartheid Africa.

He used that money to invest his way into companies like PayPal and Tesla, yet people give him credit for starting these companies and making them so successful.

You honestly can't even put the success on him. His companies like Tesla and SpaceX always have and continue to be subsidized by taxpayers. There are so many examples of government handouts.

You sound like fox news segment.

Bad people who you don't like, who are born into apratheid money ect ect can be smart and talented and accomplish significant things..

I promise you the world is full of terrible people who do great things.

 

[RustyShackleford]

I don't necessarily see that as contradictory. The image many people have of him is fraudulent, I think there's a big gap between buying into pre-existing products/ideas and building them from the ground up. People deify this man as if he's the next Einstein or something.

To be clear, I think his accomplishments are still very impressive either way.

This is a very good point.

I agree that a lot of the stuff Elon has gone is impressive.

But the idea of dude is so out of whack. So this whole "let's meet in the middle on Musk" idea is flawed to me because of that

The distance that people that damn near worship dude have to travel to get to a balanced take on dude is way bigger than the distance someone that thinks he is a complete fraud has to take.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

This is a very good point.

I agree that a lot of the stuff Elon has gone is impressive.

But the idea of dude is so out of whack. So this whole "let's meet in the middle on Musk" idea is flawed to me because of that

The distance that people that damn near worship dude have to travel to get to a balanced take on dude is way bigger than the distance someone that thinks he is a complete fraud has to take.

at some point this just becomes about perception, because to I dunno to me it just seems like a vocal minority of internet fanboys.

I think most people have a reasonably accurate view of Elon
which goes probably something like "elon musk is the ceo of tesla and a very smart guy."

but when people start hitting me with
"God emperor elon pwns the libs"
or "Elon total fraud loser not impressed"

i just can't help but look at it as internet brain poisoning.

 

[RustyShackleford]

at some point this just becomes about perception, because to I dunno to me it just seems like a vocal minority of internet fanboys.

I think most people have a reasonably accurate view of Elon
which goes probably something like "elon musk is the ceo of tesla and a very smart guy."

but when people start hitting me with
"God emperor elon pwns the libs"
or "Elon total fraud loser not impressed"

i just can't help but look at it as internet brain poisoning.

-I think his fanbase stretches beyond internet fanboys. Sure they are the most vocal, but they are not the whole population.

And that is a product of how Telsa and Elon are marketed as a combo. Like Jobs and Apple, like Holmes and Theranos

I was in Vegas when Faraday was supposed to come to town. There were a lot of people against it, in the real world, because they were Telsa fans and Elon fans. Elon got a sweetheart deal to build a factory up North, and people were still mad Faraday got a deal too. There was one group that used to drive 6 yours to the state capital to protest. Peak dumb **** observed in the real world.

I know a **** ton of Telsa owners, most of them get really into owning the car, and most of them defend to some degree Elon if I tell them why I don't like him. These are not internet warriors. But regular people who like electric cars are bought into Telsa's marketing, which includes presenting Elon.

Tech bros and the Silicon Valley aspiring entrepreneur types seem to love him too. He has pretty much taken over for Jobs.

Say a lot of people are ignorant about the details surrounding him, sure, but I think there are a lot of people who know and still ride for the dude. Not just online

-Also, having a somewhat negative view of Musk is a very reasonable take too.

I mean my late 50s centrist Republican VP only gets all his news from the Economist and WSJ, and doesn't like him because of all the scandals regarding factory workers.

 

[trynafeelmink]

Gotta disagree, I think it kinda affects everyone.

Throughout the pandemic and the 2020 election Twitter was really the only platform that was actively stoping the spread of misinformation, whether it be medical advice, political facts, etc. Elon wants to allow this flow of misinformation to continue, under the guise of "free speech".

But for him it's really just about forming the narrative the way he wants, in whatever ways that will benefit him. This holds especially true when it comes to the stock market and economic/tax policies.

Considering how a growing number of Americans (1 out of 5 and growing) are getting their political information from social media, to say it won't have any real impact is a bit ignorant imho.





Because he is a fraud. He was born into a wealthy family who made their riches off of Apartheid Africa.

He used that money to invest his way into companies like PayPal and Tesla, yet people give him credit for starting these companies and making them so successful.

You honestly can't even put the success on him. His companies like Tesla and SpaceX always have and continue to be subsidized by taxpayers. There are so many examples of government handouts.

To touch on that further, every single element in SpaceX's technology platform was invented, designed, manufactured, and procured from the Dept of Defense decades before Elon was even born. As far as Tesla, they received literally billions of dollars (it was at about $5 billion back in 2015 and they've gotten way more since) to fund their EV production.

There is quite literally nothing Elon invented, not himself and not through his companies, that wasn't the result of decades of Pentagon, DoD, and other federal subsidies.

And at the end of the day, this man pays no taxes because he takes stock options instead of an income to purposely avoid them. (Go ahead tell me he paid 11 billion in taxes this year, and I'll explain how much his wealth increased in the last year to put it into perspective).



Sorry man, but Musk can suck my ****.

you seem to be under the belief that misinformation wasn't widely spread & available on Twitter prior & that's where i disagree. Misinformation & propoganda has been a staple in american culture way before social media existed & we're just seeing the updated version in tech. You can't regulate your way out of people being hateful, ignorant, vengeful etc etc people are going to fall into those mindsets regardless.

I've said it a million times, but the need for big entities to "regulate" & determine what is "dangerous" speech or not is a slippery slope, because sure it starts with banning things everyone agrees on.... and it quickly turns into what you You believe Elon will do & that's try to control & create a narrative.

I have no real trust that Elon will really focus on free speech, but i prefer that ideology over small very specific factions of people determining what is & isn't allowable

 

[cragmatic]

I just think it’s hilarious when people complain on Facebook about Musk buying Twitter… as If they aren’t on Zuck’s platform.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

-I think his fanbase stretches beyond internet fanboys. Sure they are the most vocal, but they are not the whole population.

And that is a product of how Telsa and Elon are marketed as a combo. Like Jobs and Apple, like Holmes and Theranos

I was in Vegas when Faraday was supposed to come to town. There were a lot of people against it, in the real world, because they were Telsa fans and Elon fans. Elon got a sweetheart deal to build a factory up North, and people were still mad Faraday got a deal too. There was one group that used to drive 6 yours to the state capital to protest. Peak dumb **** observed in the real world.

I know a **** ton of Telsa owners, most of them get really into owning the car, and most of them defend to some degree Elon if I tell them why I don't like him. These are not internet warriors. But regular people who like electric cars are bought into Telsa's marketing, which includes presenting Elon.

Tech bros and the Silicon Valley aspiring entrepreneur types seem to love him too. He has pretty much taken over for Jobs.

Say a lot of people are ignorant about the details surrounding him, sure, but I think there are a lot of people who know and still ride for the dude. Not just online

-Also, having a somewhat negative view of Musk is a very reasonable take too.

I mean my late 50s centrist Republican VP only gets all his news from the Economist and WSJ, and doesn't like him because of all the scandals regarding factory workers.

oh yah Elon definitely inspires high levels of fandom in Tesla
but I think Id differentiate "man I really love tesla" guy from, like toxic tech bro Elon worshiper.

just like there are are apple, steve jobs lovers, and the toxic apple fanboy.

but anyways having a somewhat negative opinion
or somewhat positive opinion is fine,

internet just polarizes things imo

 

[RustyShackleford]

oh yah Elon definitely inspires high levels of fandom in Tesla
but I think Id differentiate "man I really love tesla" guy from, like toxic tech bro Elon worshiper.

just like there are are apple, steve jobs lovers, and the toxic apple fanboy.

but anyways having a somewhat negative opinion
or somewhat positive opinion is fine,

internet just polarizes things imo

No matter how toxic Musk's fanboys get, I don't think it can ever top Jobs. Jobs got the looniest fanbase on lock for the next century of the strength of this...

An elite level scammer too