7 ms·

I don't buy the idea that Musk is doing this as some sort of branding play. I think he genuinely believes in what he says; his beliefs have just shifted over th

I don't buy the idea that Musk is doing this as some sort of branding play. I think he genuinely believes in what he says; his beliefs have just shifted over the past few years, notably after COVID.

toomuchtodo 2y ago
His trans daughter Vivian is what flipped him. "Woke mind virus." For someone trying to have as many kids as possible (allegedly boys prioritized) and the controlling personality type, he takes great offense, as if this is a mortal sin against him. He also does not act in a healthy way when his attempts to exert control over others fails. Haven't heard much from him since his $25M in Wisconsin didn't buy him the election. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/13/elon-musk-s-ambition-repopulating-the-planet-and-destroying-the-woke-virus_6714239_4.html https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/13/e... | https://archive.today/LsqF9 https://archive.today/LsqF9 https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musks-quest-to-make-men-great-again-aee1e35d https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musks-quest-to-make-men-great-... | https://archive.today/BgTwJ https://archive.today/BgTwJ
- square_usual 2y ago
  I'm sure that's part of it, but I think the first sign was in 2020 when he basically went to war with California over their shelter in place orders. Remember the "Zero new cases by the end of April" prediction?
  - piva00 2y ago
    There were glimpses of his idiotic side coming out earlier, mainly the "pedo" comment about the diver in Thai kids rescue but COVID definitely triggered something major on him, he lost any semblance of a filter after the pandemic.
    - jeffbee 2y ago
      That wasn't a "glimpse", that was S-tier idiocy on display.
      - piva00 2y ago
        At the time it was S-tier idiocy, relatively speaking to nowadays terms... It was a glimpse.
        jeffbee 2y ago
        [flagged]
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    I mean, I think the first really massively public sign that he had a screw loose was the submarine thing.
  - cheaprentalyeti 2y ago
    I also remember the Personification of Science who funded virus creation at a lab in the city where the virus first spread spending February 2020 saying that Covid probably wasn’t going to be a problem. This raises a whole lot of questions BUT no one here wants to talk about that. And besides he’s been pardoned. It’s funny how fast the Hn crowd can go back and forth between asking “what radicalized you?” and looking away from the answer.
    - ethbr1 2y ago
      You're right. Only you have been able to understand the truth. Everyone else was misled. Congrats!
- giraffe_lady 2y ago
  He's been an extremist freak forever he just used to think it was more beneficial to keep it somewhat out of view. It's been there if you looked though. Like go read how he talked about it when he first started publicly fantasizing about mars about a decade ago. Ignore the technical stuff and take the few concrete details he does give about his goals per se and not just the means to accomplish them. And extrapolate out into how that could actually work as an economic or governance system. The only way it could work is as a novel configuration of indentured servitude or possibly straight up slavery. He's smoking the worst ideas from a century of dystopian sci fi and taking them as a blueprint. Literally torment nexus shit. Or I mean the "pedo diver" thing was seven years ago, this was only just after pizzagate, it was a massive clue he was already deep in far right conspiracy theory subcultures. The article by his first wife came out years before that which sure you could have just dismissed as pure fabrication. But already by then there was enough evidence aligned with it that it was wholly credible. https://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/a5380/millionaire-starter-wife/ https://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/a5380/millionaire-start... Or uh, why did he leave south africa in the first place. Not why did he come to the US, which is what he tries to divert this question to if asked. Emigrating is a massive upheaval, it generally takes a lot of pressure, or anticipation of it, to get someone to do that. What pressure did he perceive to be on him? I'm not willing or qualified to get too into the political history of south africa but 1987 is frequently mentioned in scholarship as when it became broadly clear to south africans that apartheid was going to collapse in the near future. Musk left in 1988. His father was a south african politician who resigned his party over their support of a constitutional reform that would give (limited!) representation to non-white south africans. People aren't their parents of course but a 18-year-old isn't completely free of their influence either. We'll never know for sure obviously but I think it's very likely ... why am I even writing this how can you not see it. I ask that you read his words, look at the timing, and connect the dots. Any one of these could be a coincidence, sure, I guess. But given his more recent behavior a much simpler explanation is, again, that he was always an extremist freak. I clocked this guy as a massive threat in like 2011 just based on vibes and kept an eye on him. I think I got this one right. [I've edited this post rather than respond to some of the comments because I'm rate limited and out of comments for the next several hours.]
  - 2y ago
- dralley 2y ago
  He has had sex-selective IVF for all of his children, and all that we know about have been biologically male. Vivian has pointed this out - Elon feels personally affronted by having a daughter. She was selected to be be male at birth in a VERY LITERAL sense. Her being transgender is an explicit rejection of his wishes, and that triggers him.
  - palmotea 2y ago
    > He has had sex-selective IVF for all of his children, and all that we know about have been biologically male. That's kinda f-ed up. I'd understand doing it once, because he wanted at least one boy, but 12 kids and all chosen to be boys? Why?
    - bloopernova 2y ago
      Especially since he seems to ignore those children except the one he drags around with him. Maybe he has some dream about being a patriarch of a giant family. Actually, considering his "pay someone else to play video games" actions, it makes sense that he's paying others to raise his kids. He seems to want the appearance but none of the work behind it.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - philistine 2y ago
        He legitimately believes that we're in a simulation. While scientists have explored the thought experiment to improve understanding of the universe, he took all the wrong lessons from it and considers everyone else an NPC. So to me it makes complete sense that an idiot like him would use his money and power to make as many boys as possible in that way.
      - disqard 2y ago
        You might be familiar with deBord's "Society of the Spectacle". He observed that all societies evolve from "Being" to "Having" and ultimately devolve into "The Appearance of Having". It explains a lot of what we see with the rise of Twitter, TikTok, influencers, etc.
morgengold 2y ago
Speaking of COVID. There is a weird story about Musk betting $1 million dollars on low death cases of COVID against his former friend Sam Harris. After Elon was spectacularly wrong he just canceled the friendship. Also forgot to pay the $1 million dollars. https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-elon https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-elon
- ethbr1 2y ago
  That seems like the Thiel school of transactional relationships. - Heads: I win - Tails: Fuck you, I'm never paying you your winnings And yes, that's a short-term superior way to monetize one's life. It also makes one an asshole to everyone around them.
FireBeyond 2y ago
Excluding SuperPACs, Musk's political contributions are public. Like most of the UHNW types, he donates to both political parties. But going back to pre-Tesla days Musk has NEVER donated more to the Democrats than the Republicans. In fact, he usually donates at about a ratio of 10:1 towards Republicans. Musk isn't interested in liberal/ecological/whatever agendas and never has been, it's a means to an end. Even his libertarian bent... go on shows/podcasts and smoke weed because hey, he's a libertarian. But work at Tesla? Better piss clean or you're fired.

I don't buy the idea that Musk is doing this as some sort of branding play. I think he genuinely believes in what he says; his beliefs have just shifted over the past few years, notably after COVID.

toomuchtodo 2y ago

His trans daughter Vivian is what flipped him. "Woke mind virus." For someone trying to have as many kids as possible (allegedly boys prioritized) and the controlling personality type, he takes great offense, as if this is a mortal sin against him. He also does not act in a healthy way when his attempts to exert control over others fails. Haven't heard much from him since his $25M in Wisconsin didn't buy him the election. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/13/elon-musk-s-ambition-repopulating-the-planet-and-destroying-the-woke-virus_6714239_4.html https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/08/13/e... | https://archive.today/LsqF9 https://archive.today/LsqF9 https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musks-quest-to-make-men-great-again-aee1e35d https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musks-quest-to-make-men-great-... | https://archive.today/BgTwJ https://archive.today/BgTwJ

square_usual 2y ago
I'm sure that's part of it, but I think the first sign was in 2020 when he basically went to war with California over their shelter in place orders. Remember the "Zero new cases by the end of April" prediction?
- piva00 2y ago
  There were glimpses of his idiotic side coming out earlier, mainly the "pedo" comment about the diver in Thai kids rescue but COVID definitely triggered something major on him, he lost any semblance of a filter after the pandemic.
  - jeffbee 2y ago
    That wasn't a "glimpse", that was S-tier idiocy on display.
    - piva00 2y ago
      At the time it was S-tier idiocy, relatively speaking to nowadays terms... It was a glimpse.
      - jeffbee 2y ago
        [flagged]
- rsynnott 2y ago
  I mean, I think the first really massively public sign that he had a screw loose was the submarine thing.
- cheaprentalyeti 2y ago
  I also remember the Personification of Science who funded virus creation at a lab in the city where the virus first spread spending February 2020 saying that Covid probably wasn’t going to be a problem. This raises a whole lot of questions BUT no one here wants to talk about that. And besides he’s been pardoned. It’s funny how fast the Hn crowd can go back and forth between asking “what radicalized you?” and looking away from the answer.
  - ethbr1 2y ago
    You're right. Only you have been able to understand the truth. Everyone else was misled. Congrats!
giraffe_lady 2y ago
He's been an extremist freak forever he just used to think it was more beneficial to keep it somewhat out of view. It's been there if you looked though. Like go read how he talked about it when he first started publicly fantasizing about mars about a decade ago. Ignore the technical stuff and take the few concrete details he does give about his goals per se and not just the means to accomplish them. And extrapolate out into how that could actually work as an economic or governance system. The only way it could work is as a novel configuration of indentured servitude or possibly straight up slavery. He's smoking the worst ideas from a century of dystopian sci fi and taking them as a blueprint. Literally torment nexus shit. Or I mean the "pedo diver" thing was seven years ago, this was only just after pizzagate, it was a massive clue he was already deep in far right conspiracy theory subcultures. The article by his first wife came out years before that which sure you could have just dismissed as pure fabrication. But already by then there was enough evidence aligned with it that it was wholly credible. https://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/a5380/millionaire-starter-wife/ https://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/a5380/millionaire-start... Or uh, why did he leave south africa in the first place. Not why did he come to the US, which is what he tries to divert this question to if asked. Emigrating is a massive upheaval, it generally takes a lot of pressure, or anticipation of it, to get someone to do that. What pressure did he perceive to be on him? I'm not willing or qualified to get too into the political history of south africa but 1987 is frequently mentioned in scholarship as when it became broadly clear to south africans that apartheid was going to collapse in the near future. Musk left in 1988. His father was a south african politician who resigned his party over their support of a constitutional reform that would give (limited!) representation to non-white south africans. People aren't their parents of course but a 18-year-old isn't completely free of their influence either. We'll never know for sure obviously but I think it's very likely ... why am I even writing this how can you not see it. I ask that you read his words, look at the timing, and connect the dots. Any one of these could be a coincidence, sure, I guess. But given his more recent behavior a much simpler explanation is, again, that he was always an extremist freak. I clocked this guy as a massive threat in like 2011 just based on vibes and kept an eye on him. I think I got this one right. [I've edited this post rather than respond to some of the comments because I'm rate limited and out of comments for the next several hours.]
- 2y ago
dralley 2y ago
He has had sex-selective IVF for all of his children, and all that we know about have been biologically male. Vivian has pointed this out - Elon feels personally affronted by having a daughter. She was selected to be be male at birth in a VERY LITERAL sense. Her being transgender is an explicit rejection of his wishes, and that triggers him.
- palmotea 2y ago
  > He has had sex-selective IVF for all of his children, and all that we know about have been biologically male. That's kinda f-ed up. I'd understand doing it once, because he wanted at least one boy, but 12 kids and all chosen to be boys? Why?
  - bloopernova 2y ago
    Especially since he seems to ignore those children except the one he drags around with him. Maybe he has some dream about being a patriarch of a giant family. Actually, considering his "pay someone else to play video games" actions, it makes sense that he's paying others to raise his kids. He seems to want the appearance but none of the work behind it.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - philistine 2y ago
      He legitimately believes that we're in a simulation. While scientists have explored the thought experiment to improve understanding of the universe, he took all the wrong lessons from it and considers everyone else an NPC. So to me it makes complete sense that an idiot like him would use his money and power to make as many boys as possible in that way.
    - disqard 2y ago
      You might be familiar with deBord's "Society of the Spectacle". He observed that all societies evolve from "Being" to "Having" and ultimately devolve into "The Appearance of Having". It explains a lot of what we see with the rise of Twitter, TikTok, influencers, etc.

morgengold 2y ago

Speaking of COVID. There is a weird story about Musk betting $1 million dollars on low death cases of COVID against his former friend Sam Harris. After Elon was spectacularly wrong he just canceled the friendship. Also forgot to pay the $1 million dollars. https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-elon https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-elon

ethbr1 2y ago
That seems like the Thiel school of transactional relationships. - Heads: I win - Tails: Fuck you, I'm never paying you your winnings And yes, that's a short-term superior way to monetize one's life. It also makes one an asshole to everyone around them.

FireBeyond 2y ago

Excluding SuperPACs, Musk's political contributions are public. Like most of the UHNW types, he donates to both political parties. But going back to pre-Tesla days Musk has NEVER donated more to the Democrats than the Republicans. In fact, he usually donates at about a ratio of 10:1 towards Republicans. Musk isn't interested in liberal/ecological/whatever agendas and never has been, it's a means to an end. Even his libertarian bent... go on shows/podcasts and smoke weed because hey, he's a libertarian. But work at Tesla? Better piss clean or you're fired.