4 ms·

Elon Musk spent a quarter-billion dollars electing Trump

10 points by nabla9 2y ago

alsetmusic 2y ago
Yeah, this guy’s an asshole.
- NotGMan 2y ago
  I like him a lot, so there's that.
  - chabes 2y ago
    What’s the opposite of virtue signaling?
    - jfengel 2y ago
      I call it "vice signalling". Though it's really just the same as virtue signalling, for a different set of virtues. "Oh, look how bad I am -- even though everybody I care about actually thinks it's a good thing that I'm putting down somebody who deserves to be put down".
taylodl 2y ago
The real question is how much money does he stand to gain as a result? Was this a good investment? I would imagine it's a very good investment. I think what people don't like about this is Elon has made it very visible that our government is up for sale. That's nothing new, but he's been the most in-your-face about it.
- jfengel 2y ago
  He may well make money on it, but I'm not sure that's really his goal. I don't much like Musk, but I'll give him this: he seems to want money because of what money does, not just to pile up bigger and bigger numbers in an account book somewhere. He bought Twitter to do social engineering, and he's getting what he paid for. He bought himself a place in government so that he could stick it to the people he dislikes, and get government out of the way of his Mars plans. He wants to be remembered as the Christopher Columbus of Mars, not as a guy with a really big bank account. He wants admiration, and he's getting it. (And he's getting notoriety, but like my cats, he thinks any attention is good attention.) I don't particularly like the way he's going about it, but I understand that a lot better than the ones who just seem to want money for its own sake.
  - taylodl 2y ago
    Elon understands that after so many zeroes pile up in your account book, the money starts becoming useless unless it can be combined with power. If an opportunity presents itself where you can make a lot of money and obtain a lot of political power, then, that's a deal that's hard to pass up!
- moshun 2y ago
  By most measures it seems Elon has made ~$70 billion dollars since Trump won the election, and he stands to make that look like a pittance once his cronies have taken over at NASA, the Department of Energy, and half a dozen other agencies that have slowed down his efforts with regulations and oversight. 27,900% growth in a single month and you come out the other side set up to loot the American government for at least the next four years? That’s a great investment deal by all standards. Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/elon-musk-worlds-richest-person-ever-sees-70-billion-net-worth-jump-in-20-days-more-than-myanmars-gdp/articleshow/115590967.cms?from=mdr https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/glob...

10 points by nabla9 2y ago

alsetmusic 2y ago

Yeah, this guy’s an asshole.

NotGMan 2y ago
I like him a lot, so there's that.
- chabes 2y ago
  What’s the opposite of virtue signaling?
  - jfengel 2y ago
    I call it "vice signalling". Though it's really just the same as virtue signalling, for a different set of virtues. "Oh, look how bad I am -- even though everybody I care about actually thinks it's a good thing that I'm putting down somebody who deserves to be put down".

taylodl 2y ago

The real question is how much money does he stand to gain as a result? Was this a good investment? I would imagine it's a very good investment. I think what people don't like about this is Elon has made it very visible that our government is up for sale. That's nothing new, but he's been the most in-your-face about it.

jfengel 2y ago
He may well make money on it, but I'm not sure that's really his goal. I don't much like Musk, but I'll give him this: he seems to want money because of what money does, not just to pile up bigger and bigger numbers in an account book somewhere. He bought Twitter to do social engineering, and he's getting what he paid for. He bought himself a place in government so that he could stick it to the people he dislikes, and get government out of the way of his Mars plans. He wants to be remembered as the Christopher Columbus of Mars, not as a guy with a really big bank account. He wants admiration, and he's getting it. (And he's getting notoriety, but like my cats, he thinks any attention is good attention.) I don't particularly like the way he's going about it, but I understand that a lot better than the ones who just seem to want money for its own sake.
- taylodl 2y ago
  Elon understands that after so many zeroes pile up in your account book, the money starts becoming useless unless it can be combined with power. If an opportunity presents itself where you can make a lot of money and obtain a lot of political power, then, that's a deal that's hard to pass up!
moshun 2y ago
By most measures it seems Elon has made ~$70 billion dollars since Trump won the election, and he stands to make that look like a pittance once his cronies have taken over at NASA, the Department of Energy, and half a dozen other agencies that have slowed down his efforts with regulations and oversight. 27,900% growth in a single month and you come out the other side set up to loot the American government for at least the next four years? That’s a great investment deal by all standards. Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/elon-musk-worlds-richest-person-ever-sees-70-billion-net-worth-jump-in-20-days-more-than-myanmars-gdp/articleshow/115590967.cms?from=mdr https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/glob...