2 ms·

Okay, but the evidence on the other side, the evidence that Musk is enriching himself... is ... what exactly? speculation?

ceejayoz 2y ago
To be clear, "is there evidence the world's richest person has a profit motivation behind his sudden interest in unpaid public service" is your question?
- scarab92 2y ago
  Yes, though I wouldn't call his interest in public policy sudden. If we're honest this is all just unfounded speculation. Financially, he's likely going to benefit from a deregulatory agenda, but is it enough to offset his investments to get Trump elected (buying Twitter, America PAC)? Who knows Is his work at USAID in any way related to his financial outcomes? Who knows Would he make just as much sitting on the couch while the republicans do their thing? Probably Does he even care about making more money, given he's got more than he can possibly spend already? Who knows. If I were to guess, he's at a point in his life where money isn't his main motivator, and instead he's seeking to make an impact.
  - danorama 2y ago
    “he's at a point in his life where money isn't his main motivator” It seems pretty clear by now that this never happens with billionaires.
    - scarab92 2y ago
      Jeff Bezos is chilling on yachts and tinkering with rockets. Bill Gates is giving his money away to charity as quickly as he can do while maintaining effectiveness. Sergey Brin is goofing around with airships. Plenty of examples of billionaries living life rather than focusing on making more money.
      - ceejayoz 2y ago
        > Jeff Bezos is ... tinkering with rockets. With the goal of making money. > Bill Gates is giving his money away to charity as quickly as he can do while maintaining effectiveness. Perhaps the best example here, but he's still working quite a bit to make money. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BENlabs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BENlabs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TerraPower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TerraPower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Investment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Investment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Ventures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Ventures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Energy > Sergey Brin is goofing around with airships. With the goal of making money.
svachalek 2y ago
The standard is to remove all possibility and/or appearance of conflict of interest. "Some guy gave me control of all the money and said I shouldn't take any for myself" is so far below this standard it's comical.
- scarab92 2y ago
  Firstly, someone ultimately has to have control of agency spendng, so that cannot be deemed a conflict of interest by itself. Secondly, I don't believe Musk has any direct authority to make any changes within these agencies whatsoever. DOGE is only permitted to review agency operations and make recommendations, not to execute them. The changes that are being attributed to Musk, are perhaps being done at his recommendation, but there is an agency director signing off on all of this.
kergonath 2y ago
Musk owes quite a lot of his virtual fortune to government subsidies. That alone should prevent him from being anywhere near the government. The appearance of impropriety is corrosive because it undermines public trust in the government. You don’t need improper actions to be in a conflict of interest. We also know that he has no moral compass and no qualm whatsoever using any lever he can to make money. The moment to worry about this is before he leaves with the till. Because everyone knows he will, and by then it will be too late.
- scarab92 2y ago
  > We also know that he has no moral compass and no qualm whatsoever using any lever he can to make money. We don't know that. Musk has several times lobbied against EV subsidies which would directly benefit Tesla, because he viewed the subsidies as excessive.
  - ceejayoz 2y ago
    > Musk has several times lobbied against EV subsidies which would directly benefit Tesla, because he viewed the subsidies as excessive. Of course he wants to kneecap his emerging competitors in the space. Same technique OpenAI is using with advocating for AI regulation.

ceejayoz 2y ago

To be clear, "is there evidence the world's richest person has a profit motivation behind his sudden interest in unpaid public service" is your question?

scarab92 2y ago
Yes, though I wouldn't call his interest in public policy sudden. If we're honest this is all just unfounded speculation. Financially, he's likely going to benefit from a deregulatory agenda, but is it enough to offset his investments to get Trump elected (buying Twitter, America PAC)? Who knows Is his work at USAID in any way related to his financial outcomes? Who knows Would he make just as much sitting on the couch while the republicans do their thing? Probably Does he even care about making more money, given he's got more than he can possibly spend already? Who knows. If I were to guess, he's at a point in his life where money isn't his main motivator, and instead he's seeking to make an impact.
- danorama 2y ago
  “he's at a point in his life where money isn't his main motivator” It seems pretty clear by now that this never happens with billionaires.
  - scarab92 2y ago
    Jeff Bezos is chilling on yachts and tinkering with rockets. Bill Gates is giving his money away to charity as quickly as he can do while maintaining effectiveness. Sergey Brin is goofing around with airships. Plenty of examples of billionaries living life rather than focusing on making more money.
    - ceejayoz 2y ago
      > Jeff Bezos is ... tinkering with rockets. With the goal of making money. > Bill Gates is giving his money away to charity as quickly as he can do while maintaining effectiveness. Perhaps the best example here, but he's still working quite a bit to make money. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BENlabs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BENlabs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TerraPower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TerraPower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Investment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Investment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Ventures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Ventures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Energy > Sergey Brin is goofing around with airships. With the goal of making money.

svachalek 2y ago

The standard is to remove all possibility and/or appearance of conflict of interest. "Some guy gave me control of all the money and said I shouldn't take any for myself" is so far below this standard it's comical.

scarab92 2y ago
Firstly, someone ultimately has to have control of agency spendng, so that cannot be deemed a conflict of interest by itself. Secondly, I don't believe Musk has any direct authority to make any changes within these agencies whatsoever. DOGE is only permitted to review agency operations and make recommendations, not to execute them. The changes that are being attributed to Musk, are perhaps being done at his recommendation, but there is an agency director signing off on all of this.

kergonath 2y ago

Musk owes quite a lot of his virtual fortune to government subsidies. That alone should prevent him from being anywhere near the government. The appearance of impropriety is corrosive because it undermines public trust in the government. You don’t need improper actions to be in a conflict of interest. We also know that he has no moral compass and no qualm whatsoever using any lever he can to make money. The moment to worry about this is before he leaves with the till. Because everyone knows he will, and by then it will be too late.

scarab92 2y ago
> We also know that he has no moral compass and no qualm whatsoever using any lever he can to make money. We don't know that. Musk has several times lobbied against EV subsidies which would directly benefit Tesla, because he viewed the subsidies as excessive.
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  > Musk has several times lobbied against EV subsidies which would directly benefit Tesla, because he viewed the subsidies as excessive. Of course he wants to kneecap his emerging competitors in the space. Same technique OpenAI is using with advocating for AI regulation.