World, Writing, Wealth discussion

Elon wants to buy Twitter. He said in a TED talk that "My strong, intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization." My hero. A guy who wants every point of view heard with no censorship of ideas. He wants a true town square format where everyone can be heard. Can he accomplish this? He said today that if he took over, board members would receive $0 in salary. He says they're not voting according to shareholders' wishes. This is ongoing, with no resolution yet. What do you think?

I've got mixed feelings on Elon. In some ways, he does seem to be pro free speech and I often agree with what he says, but there also seems to be 'something of the night' about him, which I just can't quite put my finger on. Isn't he heavily into developing AI? If so, does he intend to let them all loose on Twitter, as a means of testing them lol?

Elon, if you're reading this, I'm sure you don't care what I think and I apologise to you for voicing baseless concerns - just taking advantage of Nik's freedom of speech platform by putting it out there :)

I don't know much about Elon's motives or personality except for he obviously knows a thing or two about moneymaking. I cannot know for sure, and it's just an impression - that he might've found twitter very helpful in maybe making astronomic amounts from bitcoin, for his every tweet resulted in sufficient fluctuations to buy/sell before and after and for walking a thin line of influencing Tesla's stock value...

You guys do know that before the 2020 election, Twitter banned any mention of Hunter's laptop and any posts questioning Covid origins. Both of those topics are now accepted as valid. Here's a lesser-known case of Twitter censorship:

"The story begins with a documentary film, The New Corporation, produced by Grant Street Productions, and written and co-directed (with Jennifer Abbott) by Joel Bakan, co-author of this article. The film is based on Bakan’s award-winning book of the same name and is a sequel to his 2004 book and film, The Corporation.

Both films and books expose the corrosive impact on democracy of large corporations’ outsized economic power. Financed by the Canadian broadcaster Crave, along with Canada’s top film-funding agencies, The New Corporation premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020, and has since screened at numerous film festivals, as well as at scholarly conferences and events held by non-governmental organizations. The film, currently in distribution in Canada and beyond, has been lauded by critics worldwide.

How curious it is, then, that Twitter — purportedly a venue of and champion for freedom of speech — should censor a trailer for this film. But that is what occurred in December 2020 and continues to this day." https://www.cigionline.org/articles/t...

How many other instances are there of Twitter censorship of free speech? I want to see a town square where all opinions are heard, whether they're popular or not. Censorship is anathema to free speech, and I think Twitter needs to reflect that.

Scout wrote: "...How many other instances are there of Twitter censorship of free speech? I want to see a town square where all opinions are heard, whether they're popular or not. Censorship is anathema to free speech, and I think Twitter needs to reflect that...."

I hope Musk will introduce policy changes, however I think his move towards acquisition of Twitter is less ideological to set things right there and more business motivated, as he discovered Twitter being very instrumental in influencing business quotations ...

I do not trust Elon musk. He is playing a different game than one suspects. This is and always was about money. I hope I am wrong and he truly believes in free expression. Yet, I have the nagging doubt things change much under his guidance. I am not crying for Twitter or Facebook because they deserve what happens to them. I just do not trust a naked man offering you his shirt.

Nik wrote: "I hope Musk will introduce policy changes, however I think his move towards acquisition of Twitter is less ideological to set things right there and more business motivated, as he discovered Twitter being very instrumental in influencing business quotations..."

I agree. And to test out his AI on Twitter users, possibly? Btw, does Elon have a stake in Goodreads? Could Miss be tied in with Elon?

Beau wrote: "...I agree. And to test out his AI on Twitter users, possibly? Btw, does Elon have a stake in Goodreads? Could Miss be tied in with Elon?..."

GR is under Jeff and not necessarily for his love of lit unless it switched hands relatively recently. As of Mis, she's perfectly outspoken about being from Senegal and I'm sure every one of her 18,785 followers can confirm that.

Papaphilly wrote: "I do not trust Elon musk. He is playing a different game than one suspects. This is and always was about money. I hope I am wrong and he truly believes in free expression. Yet, I have the nagging d..."

It's agree with Papaphilly day for me today. I think he's spot on with this.

Acquisition of a media giant enables calling Elon an "oligarch" :)

From The Babylon Bee:

Government That's $30 Trillion In Debt Criticizes Elon Musk For How He Spends His Money
https://babylonbee.com/news/governmen...

J. wrote: "From The Babylon Bee:

Government That's $30 Trillion In Debt Criticizes Elon Musk For How He Spends His Money
https://babylonbee.com/news/governmen......"

Cannot make this stuff up

I think Musk is attempting to bring some fairness to social media, and he's done it in the only way possible. Even Twitter's founder, Dorsey, says, "“Elon's goal of creating a platform that is 'maximally trusted and broadly inclusive' is the right one,” he said. “This is also @paraga's goal, and why I chose him." It's funny to me that Twitter employees are out of their minds with fear that Twitter will censor the left -- after themselves censoring the right for the last few years :-)

Scout wrote: "I think Musk is attempting to bring some fairness to social media, and he's done it in the only way possible. Even Twitter's founder, Dorsey, says, "“Elon's goal of creating a platform that is 'max..."

Nice of Jack Dorsey exclaiming that Twitter should not worry about censorship. It was all started on his watch. We will not mention he made and extra 250 mill on Musk's deal.

In a different sense, he's my hero too:
https://mezha.media/en/2022/04/29/ukr...

Elon Musk tweets he’s buying Coca-Cola next to ‘put the cocaine back in’
https://myfox8.com/offbeat/elon-musk-...

🤣

Cool, Nik.

Thanks for that link. J. "The outspoken Tesla CEO has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech."

What I haven't seen anyone bring up is how this will affect Trump's platform. If you remember, he was supposed to be starting his own social media platform to capitalize off everyone who felt Twitter was suppressing their voices. If they can't speak on Twitter because of the censorship, they would flock to Trump's platform. But if Elon makes Twitter a freer and fairer platform, that could kill Trump's efforts to build his platform.

Y'all wanna see something nuts?

Market Capitalization (USD):

Tesla - $935.45B
https://companiesmarketcap.com/tesla/...

Toyota - $236.09B
https://companiesmarketcap.com/toyota...

Volkswagen - $98.21B
https://companiesmarketcap.com/volksw...

Ford - $57.36B
https://companiesmarketcap.com/ford/m...

GM - $56.06B
https://companiesmarketcap.com/genera...

It goes on like this. Tesla's market value is greater than the next 13 automakers combined. But Tesla's revenue is less than half of just GM's revenue.

We live in the era, where hype means much more than revenue. Absurd, yet we see it.
With each tweet about Bitcoin Elon probably makes billions. Not too much effort

J. wrote: "Y'all wanna see something nuts?

Market Capitalization (USD):

Tesla - $935.45B
https://companiesmarketcap.com/tesla/...

Toyota - $236.09B
https://companiesmarketcap.com/toyota...

..."

It'd be interesting to look at the price to earning ratio and other traditional methods of valuing stocks. At first glance, the figures you've shown remind me of the dotcom boom.

I don't know a great deal about bitcoin but I'd be surprised if central banks allowed it to survive when they launch their own digital currencies. Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

First rule of investigative journalism: Cardio!
https://youtu.be/ialWQry0mxo

This one should have Beau loving Elon "Space Daddy" Musk.

REVEALED: George Soros, Clinton and Obama staffers and European governments are behind anti-Musk campaign to force big corporations to boycott Twitter - after Elon demanded to know 'who funds these organizations?'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...

I see that Musk is thinking about charging businesses and govt entities a small charge for using Twitter. I don't have a problem with that, as long as it remains free for us regular people.

J. wrote: "This one should have Beau loving Elon "Space Daddy" Musk.

REVEALED: George Soros, Clinton and Obama staffers and European governments are behind anti-Musk campaign to force big corporations to boy..."

J, I love it! As I said before, I like a lot of what he says but there's just something about him that makes me slightly suspicious. I can't quite put my finger on it. Anyway, I really hope I'm wrong and that he is the saviour of Western values. I'm just not convinced...yet, anyway :)

J. wrote: "This one should have Beau loving Elon "Space Daddy" Musk.

REVEALED: George Soros, Clinton and Obama staffers and European governments are behind anti-Musk campaign to force big corporations to boy..."

Let the sunlight in :)
At the time he bent Lockheed & Boeing for his benefit https://www.washingtonpost.com/busine..., may equally hold ground here..
Not sure public benefit is his prime focus though

Good answer, Elon: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...
What in the view of the wave of sudden deaths of russian oligarchs and its possible spillover ...

The Billionaire and the Technocrat
https://youtu.be/3uhOjFCajA0

Now, I keep seeing Obama as a charismatic Albert Speer.

J. wrote: "The Billionaire and the Technocrat
https://youtu.be/3uhOjFCajA0

Now, I keep seeing Obama as a charismatic Albert Speer."

Will watch that later. In the meantime, looks like the ban on Trump is definitely being lifted :)

Repelling russian attack on Starlink, he's becoming a war hero too:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/elon-mu...

Some of you have a "feeling" that Musk is bad. Any proof?

Scout wrote: "Some of you have a "feeling" that Musk is bad. Any proof?"

That can only apply to either me or Nik. I don't think he's bad. I'm just not sure he's the knight in shining armour many people on the right seem to think he is. I haven't got a shred of proof for this - just a gut feeling, which I thought I'd share with the group.

Scout wrote: "Some of you have a "feeling" that Musk is bad. Any proof?"

I don't have such a feeling, the one I have - he acts mostly out of self-interest, not from some noble agenda, but as long as he does good things on the way, the motives are much less important than the deeds.

If anyone thinks he is doing this out of altruism forgets he is the richest man in the world. He did not get that way from being nice and altruistic.

Scout wrote: "Some of you have a "feeling" that Musk is bad. Any proof?"

Let's consider two opposite possibilities.

1.) Musk is an altruist who believes so completely in truth, justice,and the American way that he is spending billions of his own dollars to preserve free speech against creeping socialism. This scenario leads to a world in which the Karens and Man-babies have been laid low and the free and open exchange of ideas reigns.

2.) Musk is a narcissist who is squandering billions of his own dollars to revenge himself upon self-righteous cringe masters. This scenario leads to the Karens and Man-babies being laid low as the tech company which they've infested is burned to the ground.

Either way...

Or he is an egotist that plays the game well and makes money by fooling around and pushing the pile. I would love to be wrong, but.....

Hey, I never said he's not in this out of self interest. He's a businessman, and I expect him to look at it from that angle. I haven't seen any indication that he's a megalomaniac, however, and I do think he's interested in freedom of expression, which has not been the case with Twitter in the past. Just the opposite, which is dangerous. Censorship in any form is anathema to a free society. Right?

There was a really good documentary on UK's Channel 4 the other night about Elon, including interviews with former employees. I wasn't intending to watch it but once I started, I couldn't stop.

Tbf, it was a bit of a hatchet job but still made for really interesting viewing. I'm remaining open-minded about Elon. Not for him, not against him, just waiting and seeing :)

Tesla’s Removal From S&P Index Sparks Debate About ESG Ratings

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...

Find out more about it here:

https://mises.org/wire/elon-musk-vers...

Scout, I’ve finally made up my mind. I’m now on board with Elon :)

After more than two years of dragging myself into work everyday while worthlessness calling themselves middle management "worked" from their couches because the COOF was too dangerous, this made me smile. 😁

Elon Musk tells employees to return to office or ‘pretend to work’ elsewhere
https://www.theguardian.com/technolog...

Ha, J.! Gotta love that :-) And glad to see you've made up your mind, Beau. If he turns out to be bad, I'll be the first to change my mind.

How do you guys think Elon will be viewed by history, considering that he's been on the leading edge with with Tesla and and SpaceX? Quite remarkable, both.

J. wrote: "After more than two years of dragging myself into work everyday while worthlessness calling themselves middle management "worked" from their couches because the COOF was too dangerous, this made me..."

I can just picture them, dressed in a shirt, tie and pyjama bottoms, telling their colleagues in the office, via Zoom, that they're severely overworked but bravely soldiering on. The virtual meeting ends, so they take off their shirt and tie, slip on a hooded top, and drive to the supermarket to do their weekly grocery shop. Upon returning home, they sunbathe in the garden until their arduous shift, which includes 2 hours paid overtime, comes to a close.

Scout wrote: "Ha, J.! Gotta love that :-) And glad to see you've made up your mind, Beau. If he turns out to be bad, I'll be the first to change my mind.

How do you guys think Elon will be viewed by history, co..."

I think it is very early for any decision on his legacy.

Really? Producing reusable space vehicles. Producing electric cars people want to buy, making them popular among the wealthy. I'd say he's already made his mark on history, even if the current financial mess were to bankrupt him.

Elon Musk chatting with Project Veritas:
https://youtu.be/FLvTcRrzy20

Scout wrote: "Really? Producing reusable space vehicles. Producing electric cars people want to buy, making them popular among the wealthy. I'd say he's already made his mark on history, even if the current fina..."

When you think of Howard Hughes, what do you think of?

Which Howard Hughes?

The young Hughes who turned a tooling company into a massive aerospace, technology, and real estate concern or the old Hughes who after decades of dealing with the government turned into a paranoid recluse?

J. wrote: "Which Howard Hughes?

The young Hughes who turned a tooling company into a massive aerospace, technology, and real estate concern or the old Hughes who after decades of dealing with the government ..."

Nice try.

I do or do not. There is no try.

J. wrote: "I do or do not. There is no try."

OK you did not....8^)