Muskovite Birds of a Feather: Notes on the Great Twitterpation

Sarkus said:
On the subject of Musk, it seems that some members of the GOP are suggesting President Musk replace Johnson as the Speaker of the House. There's no legal requirement for the Speaker to be a member of the House, so if Musk wants the job he could almost certainly get it (a little word in co-President Trump's ear here, a threat of putting up money to oust anyone in the GOP who doesn't support him there etc).
An article on MSNBC's webtsite (https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc...e-speaker-republicans-debt-ceiling-rcna184884) suggests that if this is what the GOP want then the Dems should just sit back and let it happen, and be sure to let the GOP own the ensuing chaos. I'm not sure how serious the idea is, though. Would Musk even want the job, and all the minutiae that goes with it? Would there be enough support even in the House GOP membership? I doubt it.
Click to expand...
If Musk is like his S African mate Peter Thiel, he will hold democratic process in contempt, in which case he won’t want to become part of the system he would like to destroy. He’d also be a disaster as Speaker, the essence of which is cajoling and persuading people. He’d just antagonise everybody.

I expect Musk and Trump to fall out before long. I’ll be surprised if he’s still in this advisory job a year from now.
 
I was wondering about companies competing for NASA contracts when Elon is the person checking value for government money, so to speak.
Same person leading SpaceX and the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), seems, sorry about this, dodgy to me?
 
foghorn said:
I was wondering about companies competing for NASA contracts when Elon is the person checking value for government money, so to speak.
Same person leading SpaceX and the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), seems, sorry about this, dodgy to me?
Click to expand...
Yup, Peter Thiel's Palantir already has "classified" contracts with the Pentagon and I read in yesterday's FT the "Paypal Mafia" are looking to displace the traditional Defence suppliers (Lockheed, Raytheon et al) as prime contractors, on the basis of drone technology, AI and all that shit.

So we face the prospect of the future military capability of the USA being in the hands of people who not only have overt aspirations to political power but actually despise democracy. And they also have extensive surveillance capability on the habits and beliefs of the populace too. Good plan, eh?
 
exchemist said:
If Musk is like his S African mate Peter Thiel, he will hold democratic process in contempt, in which case he won’t want to become part of the system he would like to destroy. He’d also be a disaster as Speaker, the essence of which is cajoling and persuading people. He’d just antagonise everybody.

I expect Musk and Trump to fall out before long. I’ll be surprised if he’s still in this advisory job a year from now.
Click to expand...
I had actually forgotten about Thiel's own South African history. Of course, I think it's fair to say that Musk has a much deeper "investment" in the Afrikaner mindset, given the first couple of decades of his life.

The fact that Musk has never addressed any of this has always been a huge red flag. And as a person of around the same age as Musk, it's pretty freakin' mind-blowing, to be honest. In the late 80s/early 90s, Apartheid was a prominent topic amongst high school and college kids with any sort of awareness: if you simply remained, uh, neutral--as did Musk, to all indications--then you were a pretty suspect character.

Liekwise, mainstream media in the US has long ignored this aspect of Musk's history, and this facet of his character.
 
parmalee said:
I had actually forgotten about Thiel's own South African history. Of course, I think it's fair to say that Musk has a much deeper "investment" in the Afrikaner mindset, given the first couple of decades of his life.

The fact that Musk has never addressed any of this has always been a huge red flag. And as a person of around the same age as Musk, it's pretty freakin' mind-blowing, to be honest. In the late 80s/early 90s, Apartheid was a prominent topic amongst high school and college kids with any sort of awareness: if you simply remained, uh, neutral--as did Musk, to all indications--then you were a pretty suspect character.

Liekwise, mainstream media in the US has long ignored this aspect of Musk's history, and this facet of his character.
Click to expand...
I have no idea whether either Musk or Thiel is a white supremacist. But they are mates from a long way back and will no doubt scratch one another's backs. Actually Thiel was born in Germany and lived in the US before going to S Africa, so I was wrong to say he was actally S African. He just did some of his growing up there.

But Thiel is on record as saying he has little time for democracy. He also has built himself a bunker in New Zealand, in case it all goes wrong in the USA.
 
exchemist said:
I have no idea whether either Musk or Thiel is a white supremacist. But they are mates from a long way back and will no doubt scratch one another's backs. Actually Thiel was born in Germany and lived in the US before going to S Africa, so I was wrong to say he was actally S African. He just did some of his growing up there.

But Thiel is on record as saying he has little time for democracy. He also has built himself a bunker in New Zealand, in case it all goes wrong in the USA.
Click to expand...
Musk has said and endorsed a lot of racist stuff in the past, but I think his brand has always been more a form of elitism which prioritizes wealth and ability over everything else. He's long been an advocate of longtermism, a rather extreme sort of consequentialist ethics and philosophy which is entirely dependent upon it's adherents having a whole lotta blind spots. IOW it's all well and good when you've literally got a bunker you can retreat to when the shit hits the fan!

I mentioned that generational aspect previously because Musk has always reminded me of one of those guys who reads, say, Arthur C Clarke's Childhood's End, and somehow misses the point entirely. Take any cultural reference point or touchstone, and Musk's takeaway is guaranteed to be a head scratcher. That said, Musk's takeaways do make a sort of sense in consideration of his upbringing.

You don't fault a person for reading Plato's Republic and thinking, "Well, that kinda makes sense": it's an intellectual exercise, and there's a part in all of us, or most of us, that can appreciate the appeal of fascism and totalitarianism when we're at the top. But when you go about implementing those principles in life, you've got a seriously dangerous individual.
 
Seattle:
Seattle said:
Are you a socialist?
Click to expand...
You're already way off-topic.

Would it matter to you if I told you that I am a socialist? (Note, because you seem to have difficulty with nuance, that I am not telling you that I am a socialist, at this time.)

Perhaps you might like to familiarise yourself with the concepts of Social democracy, which strike me as sensible in many ways that socialism might not be.

I'm guessing that, as a right-wing American, you have no idea what the word "socialism" actually means. Instead, you have absorbed a right-wing caricature version of what it is.

Anyway, none of this has anything at all to do with Elon Musk's policies, which you are yet to summarise for me.
 
James R said:
Seattle:

You're already way off-topic.

Would it matter to you if I told you that I am a socialist? (Note, because you seem to have difficulty with nuance, that I am not telling you that I am a socialist, at this time.)

Perhaps you might like to familiarise yourself with the concepts of Social democracy, which strike me as sensible in many ways that socialism might not be.

I'm guessing that, as a right-wing American, you have no idea what the word "socialism" actually means. Instead, you have absorbed a right-wing caricature version of what it is.

Anyway, none of this has anything at all to do with Elon Musk's policies, which you are yet to summarise for me.
Click to expand...
I have trouble with nuance? Haha...that's a good one.

You should have realized by now that underestimating people is a fool's game.
 
Seattle:

Now you're just blathering on for the sake of thinking you've had the last word.

Maybe, next time, try talking about the thread topic.
 
James R said:
Seattle:

Now you're just blathering on for the sake of thinking you've had the last word.

Maybe, next time, try talking about the thread topic.
Click to expand...
I don't think you know how to have a discussion, do you? It's not done with snark and a demand.
 
Seattle said:
I don't think you know how to have a discussion, do you? It's not done with snark and a demand.
Click to expand...
You mean, like asking you what Elon Musk's policies are, after you strode in to defend Musk after he revealed himself to have neo-Nazi sympathies?

It turned out that you didn't know what Musk's policies are (if he has any), but instead of admitting that you decided to whine and complain and make excuses about why you couldn't answer, while attempting to distract. Then you tried to insult me, pathetically.

And now, here we are, and you find yourself stuck in an awkward position but you can't let it go, because to do so would involve you losing face, or something like that, in your own mind.

Give it a rest, Seattle. If you think you have all the economic answers that Trump and Musk need, why don't you tell them?
 
James R said:
You mean, like asking you what Elon Musk's policies are, after you strode in to defend Musk after he revealed himself to have neo-Nazi sympathies?

It turned out that you didn't know what Musk's policies are (if he has any), but instead of admitting that you decided to whine and complain and make excuses about why you couldn't answer, while attempting to distract. Then you tried to insult me, pathetically.

And now, here we are, and you find yourself stuck in an awkward position but you can't let it go, because to do so would involve you losing face, or something like that, in your own mind.

Give it a rest, Seattle. If you think you have all the economic answers that Trump and Musk need, why don't you tell them?
Click to expand...
Am I, as you call Tiassa, a pathetic little man? That's a strange tact for running a discussion forum. Not that you are good at running a discussion forum.
 
Seattle said:
Am I, as you call Tiassa, a pathetic little man? That's a strange tact for running a discussion forum. Not that you are good at running a discussion forum.
Click to expand...
Another turn for the bizarre, with another babyish insult. But you can't stop yourself, can you?

*yawn*
 
James R said:
Thanks for amplifying my point once again, Seattle. Will you stop now?
Click to expand...

James, just because the moment makes the point so clearly: Y'know, back when we were disputing things like good faith, intellectual dishonesty, and basic standards of rational discourse, this is what you were protecting. One of the reasons people behave this way is because they have no reason not to.

So, when I talked about what we cultivated by those standards, yes, our neighbor's behavior is an example.

This is what you wanted.
 
Tiassa said:
James, just because the moment makes the point so clearly: Y'know, back when we were disputing things like good faith, intellectual dishonesty, and basic standards of rational discourse, this is what you were protecting. One of the reasons people behave this way is because they have no reason not to.

So, when I talked about what we cultivated by those standards, yes, our neighbor's behavior is an example.

This is what you wanted.
Click to expand...
Yes, you are so fully of "good faith" and "intellectual honesty"...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top