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There should be no level of “success” that lets you speak your mind without fear of consequence. When what’s on your mind are things like baseless accusations o
by braythwayt 8y ago
There should be no level of “success” that lets you speak your mind without fear of consequence. When what’s on your mind are things like baseless accusations of pedophilia, for example, you ought to be afraid of “saying the wrong thing.”
That’s healthy.
As for Musk’s SEC violations, he chose to run a publicly traded company, nobody put a gun to his head. He was already wealthy, he decided that the upside of turbocharging the electric car revolution and the exploration of space were worth the constraints of dealing with regulatory bodies.
His choice, his consequences. We aren’t talking about him being fined for saying that he thinks his country’s Dear Leader looks like a deflated pumpkin. Nobody should live in fear of saying that.
- kitsunesoba 8y agoJust to be clear, only Tesla is public. SpaceX is private and Musk has repeatedly expressed that he intends for it remain that way until regular trips to/from Mars are the norm.
- braythwayt 8y agoThank you!
- maehwasu 8y ago> He was already wealthy, he decided that the upside of turbocharging the electric car revolution and the exploration of space were worth the constraints of dealing with regulatory bodies. The regulatory bodies don't exactly come out looking awesome in the above sentence.
- braythwayt 8y agoRegulatory bodies are the worst thing we’ve ever tried, except unregulated capitalism.
- stcredzero 8y agoThere should be no level of “success” that lets you speak your mind without fear of consequence. Yes there should be. In other times, it was being an ordinary private citizen of the United States. When what’s on your mind are things like baseless accusations of pedophilia, for example, you ought to be afraid of “saying the wrong thing.” "Speaking your mind" isn't exactly the same thing as engaging in defamation.
- krapp 8y ago> In other times, it was being an ordinary private citizen of the United States. There was never such a time. Never, in the history of the United States, was it ever common for "ordinary private citizens" to speak their mind without fear of consequence. American culture, while giving lip-service to freedom of speech, has always punished those who venture to criticize the status quo. >"Speaking your mind" isn't exactly the same thing as engaging in defamation. Of course it is. If Elon Musk, or anyone, should be able to speak their mind without fear of consequence, that implies the freedom to defame people without fear of legal consequence.
- stcredzero 8y agoNever, in the history of the United States, was it ever common for "ordinary private citizens" to speak their mind without fear of consequence. False. Me in graduate school in the 90's in South Carolina. My professor friend in the 90's just after she got tenure. American culture, while giving lip-service to freedom of speech, has always punished those who venture to criticize the status quo. No. Certain subsets/factions of this society have done that. There are many Americans who gave far more than lip-service to freedom of speech. My father was one such person. Many, many people in this society have been like that. It's in the past several years, that the mainstream media as a faction has turned against this idea. In my youth, they were among the loudest proponents. When I was young, it was the hostile Moral Majority types who were against freedom of speech. It always seems to be moralist authoritarians who claim they're not moralist authoritarians.
- krapp 8y ago
- massivecali 8y agoNobody in Hollywood is afraid of consequences for baseless accusations of anyone supporting the president as being a Nazi.