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Something tells me Musk is not going to be on the side you think he's going to be on in that scenario.

• mschuster91 2y ago
  Musk not, but the US government actually has powerful levers at its hand to force his cooperation if necessary. If all things fail, arrest him and nationalize his assets. It's not the first time someone who thought themselves to be above the law got eventually rear-ended by it - remember Al Capone, they got him on tax evasion in the end. There are only three known entities to have bested the US government in many decades - Vietnam, Scientology and the Taliban. Musk is better advised that it's a foolish attempt to become the fourth one.
  • deadbabe 2y ago
    What if Musk becomes a Scientologist?
    • adolph 2y ago
      Mars does have the largest known volcano in the solar system.
  • catlifeonmars 2y ago
    What makes you think the US government will be on your side?
    • deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    • Mountain_Skies 2y ago
      [flagged]
      • carlosjobim 2y ago
        Master of root on the computer, master of all mankind. That's why I demand the government ban all closed source software. Or they will feel my wrath.
  • Teever 2y ago
    You may not have heard the news but but Musk is the government now.
    • onetokeoverthe 2y ago
      Advisory is not IN.
      • techdragon 2y ago
        Advisors can be in government… if it’s a government department even an advisory one, it’s part of government… and thus its employees are in government.
        • Jtsummers 2y ago
          Except in this case it's a department in name only, it is not an actual part of the US government.
          • techdragon 2y ago
            It’s currently just in name only. But that is likely to change soon in some form yet to be revealed when the new government is sworn in. So legally it isn’t in government yet, however as it is officially part of the elected governments plans, you can make a sensible argument that it is part of the incoming transitional government that has been elected and while having now power due to not being sworn in yet, is indeed part of government by nature transition teams and the president elect having status in government by way of things like security briefings and other rights and privileges normally only held by the incumbent government like increased security protection… It would be like saying a government in exile (a well established precedent of history) isn’t a government and none of the people in it are in government…
            • deleted 2y ago
              [deleted]
            • 2y ago
  • irjustin 2y ago
    > the US government actually has powerful levers at its hand to force his cooperation if necessary The scenarios you put forth here are effectively not happening. This is not a communist+dictator state (where this is much easier) nor does one branch have the power to unilaterally decide this. The only time nationalization of a private service should happen in our country is wartime, specifically WWIII has to happen and on US soil. WW2 never saw this, nor did it need to.
    • mschuster91 2y ago
      > This is not a communist+dictator state (where this is much easier) nor does one branch have the power to unilaterally decide this. The Supreme Court practically gave the President full immunity as long as they are in office, Congress is gridlocked and governing has happened mostly through executive orders for decades now. Assuming a President (and no matter who it is) gives the orders, they will get executed as given - and any kind of protest will be dealt with in the courts, in a process that will likely take years. > The only time nationalization of a private service should happen in our country is wartime The US has been at war for the utter majority of the last decades. Vietnam, Libya 1, Iraq 1, Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq 2, Libya 2, Yemen, and that's just the major ones where the US were an active combattant.
  • aguaviva 2y ago
    Musk is better advised that it's a foolish attempt to become the fourth one. Instead he managed to pull off a trick that not even Capone and Scientology were bold enough to try. He became the government.
    • bdangubic 2y ago
      becoming the government has an expiration date (with post-expiration date consequences which for him will be severe). boldness or foolishness to become government we shall see…
• kortilla 2y ago
  It has already happened: https://iranwire.com/en/technology/133773-iranians-defy-internet-restriction-with-smuggled-starlink-devices/ https://iranwire.com/en/technology/133773-iranians-defy-inte...
• declan_roberts 2y ago
  He seems to be leaning pretty strongly antigovernment at the moment.
  • Jtsummers 2y ago
    No, he's leaning strongly anti-regulation, particularly those that impede his businesses. He's big on government because that's a major part of his revenue (DOD, NASA, and various TLAs). He's not big on the parts of government that slow him down or would cause his taxes to be higher for things he doesn't care about.
    • niceice 2y ago
      It's quite simply about efficiency.
      • Jtsummers 2y ago
        Yes, efficiency for his businesses and interests.
        • niceice 2y ago
          A more efficient government helps everyone.
          • Eisenstein 2y ago
            The reason for a lot of government inefficiency is checks and balances. If we did away with those it would be really efficient.
          • Jtsummers 2y ago
            In principle. But targeted "efficiency" improvements that aid Musk's interests selected by Musk are not necessarily going to help anyone but Musk.
          • LunaSea 2y ago