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I think it's pretty easy, he's obviously a far-right libertarian that rejoices at the riots in England, posts antisemitic tropes on the social network he bought

I think it's pretty easy, he's obviously a far-right libertarian that rejoices at the riots in England, posts antisemitic tropes on the social network he bought for some dozens of billions of dollars so that he could keep other far-right bigots online for reasons of "free speech", he's a rich, dangerous racist with a deep coffer.

benreesman 2y ago
I take a pretty dim view of the stuff you’re alluding to, I hope I was clear that he’s coming off as kind of an asshole from where I’m sitting. It’s got kind of a Tech Kanye vibe and it’s a bad look in 2024. But certainly I’ve posted some stuff online I wish I could take back, I suspect most have, and given the cool stuff around renewable energy and rockets I’m rooting for a good outcome.
- r2_pilot 2y ago
  I think the biggest difference between you and Musk is that you wish you could take stuff back, and Musk appears not to share that desire. And continues to express them. The rockets and energy stuff will keep going for now no matter who's at the helm.
- sgu999 2y ago
  > But certainly I’ve posted some stuff online I wish I could take back He really doesn't look like someone who wants to take anything back. In the past couple years he basically doubled down on everything unpleasant about him, sadly. How one can go from having interesting opinions on all sorts of scientific topics to being able to entertain Trump's rumblings for an hour is beyond me, but that's what happened.
  - cmrdporcupine 2y ago
    The "pedo guy" incident was the turning point, at least publicly. Before that he was eccentric and an emitter of a lot of flowery bullshit ("full self driving next year!") but mostly harmless, and probably doing more positive than negative. After that it was just one unhinged incident after another, growing worse and worse.
rsynnott 2y ago
I mean, possibly the American definition of ‘libertarian’ has finally been diluted to ‘literally nothing’, but I’d find it hard to call Musk’s embrace of Trump, the authoritarian, particularly libertarian.
- krapp 2y ago
  Yes. Like Trump, Musk isn't a libertarian - he's an opportunist who espouses pop-libertarian ideals when it suits him. Musk's leadership style is typical of an autocratic dyed-in-the-wool capitalist, and by accounts Trump is the same.

benreesman 2y ago

I take a pretty dim view of the stuff you’re alluding to, I hope I was clear that he’s coming off as kind of an asshole from where I’m sitting. It’s got kind of a Tech Kanye vibe and it’s a bad look in 2024. But certainly I’ve posted some stuff online I wish I could take back, I suspect most have, and given the cool stuff around renewable energy and rockets I’m rooting for a good outcome.

r2_pilot 2y ago
I think the biggest difference between you and Musk is that you wish you could take stuff back, and Musk appears not to share that desire. And continues to express them. The rockets and energy stuff will keep going for now no matter who's at the helm.
sgu999 2y ago
> But certainly I’ve posted some stuff online I wish I could take back He really doesn't look like someone who wants to take anything back. In the past couple years he basically doubled down on everything unpleasant about him, sadly. How one can go from having interesting opinions on all sorts of scientific topics to being able to entertain Trump's rumblings for an hour is beyond me, but that's what happened.
- cmrdporcupine 2y ago
  The "pedo guy" incident was the turning point, at least publicly. Before that he was eccentric and an emitter of a lot of flowery bullshit ("full self driving next year!") but mostly harmless, and probably doing more positive than negative. After that it was just one unhinged incident after another, growing worse and worse.

rsynnott 2y ago

I mean, possibly the American definition of ‘libertarian’ has finally been diluted to ‘literally nothing’, but I’d find it hard to call Musk’s embrace of Trump, the authoritarian, particularly libertarian.

krapp 2y ago
Yes. Like Trump, Musk isn't a libertarian - he's an opportunist who espouses pop-libertarian ideals when it suits him. Musk's leadership style is typical of an autocratic dyed-in-the-wool capitalist, and by accounts Trump is the same.