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Musk's behaviors should be separated into before drugs and after drugs. Since the day he smoked pot on camera, it's been all downhill.

by Animats 10mo ago

Aarostotle 10mo ago
Well reasoned. Before he smoked that reefer, his space company was catching the largest booster ever made with metal chopsticks, all paid for by global satellite internet revenue. His electric crossover/SUV was the best selling car in America. Now that he’s gotten distracted by politics I dislike, he’s not doing any of that. Definitely no longer the world’s greatest builder. /s
- tw04 10mo ago
  > all paid for by global satellite internet revenue. Huh? You think starlink is funding space-x? If they lost all government and private launch business tomorrow and had to rely on Stalink revenues to stay in business they wouldn’t last through next month. > His electric crossover/SUV was the best selling car in America. It was, and then he fried his brain and decided to support fascists across the globe and can’t understand why people no longer want to support him or his businesses. He apparently watched handmaid’s tale and thought “man those Gilead guys are really onto something”.
  - Aloha 10mo ago
    I dont think Starlink can actually make money without government subsidies and a whole lot of inactive users. It simply cannot scale, the width spot beams are limited by physics - they cannot get small enough to get the density needed.
    - ben_w 10mo ago
      I think that's the point? I'd always assumed Starlink was a way to fill in coverage gaps in low-density areas where cable would cost more than it was worth, not cities?
  - pavlov 10mo ago
    He didn’t need to watch Handmaid’s Tale. He grew up in 1970s South Africa and has never accepted that this model of society lost. He and Thiel claim South Africa’s current government is engaged in genocide against whites, but they have never criticized apartheid.
    - sdoering 10mo ago
      On that front an interesting read is: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk-peter-thiel-apartheid-south-africa https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk...
    - SR2Z 10mo ago
      Supposedly the South African side of his family is actually pretty reasonable - it's the Canadian side that had the virulent racists.
  - locknitpicker 10mo ago
    > Huh? You think starlink is funding space-x? In the last year alone, around 2/3 of space X's revenue was directly tied to starlink launches. > If they lost all government and private launch business tomorrow and had to rely on Stalink revenues to stay in business they wouldn’t last through next month. That's kind of the problem.
- idiotsecant 10mo ago
  The irony of the biggest welfare queen in the world being worshipped by libertarian tech bros is too much sometimes.
  - SR2Z 10mo ago
    Dude, nobody with a brain thinks he would have succeeded without the subsidies and support, but that still doesn't invalidate his achievements. It's really annoying that I'm defending him because I find him reprehensible, but the truth is that he's accomplished some crazy things.
    - ben_w 10mo ago
      > the truth is that he's accomplished some crazy things. I would argue: yes, to the extent that a leader gets to be described as having "accomplished" the work of the team. It's not nothing, to be a visionary and charismatic leader! But at the same time… when the reality distortion field seems to be in the process of transforming into a cult of personality, I think it's fair to ask if he'll ever again do something like a new SpaceX or a new Tesla, either as a maker or an investor. I'm not sure when the cut-off between the two states, RDF and cult, would be. Not unreasonable to say it was when he libelled the cave diver, but there are other times it could've been.
mikkupikku 10mo ago
That's very silly. Weed doesn't turn people into habitual liars. Secondly, he was abusing drugs before that interview. Thirdly, he was telling absurd lies before that interview too. The hand wringing about him smoking a blunt is absurd, he doesn't have "reefer madness".
- SR2Z 10mo ago
  It's not the weed that fried his brain, it's the ketamine. That moment where he smoked up on camera seems to coincide pretty well with him losing his mind, though.
  - mikkupikku 10mo ago
    He was also combining ambien and wine. I don't know what that does to somebody's brain, but probably nothing good..
  - redwall_hp 10mo ago
    People get ketamine treatments for depression all the time. It's not drugs, he's just a nasty person who's been good at manipulating people in the past. People have just finally caught on to the con, at least in part because he's terminally online. It's been obvious since the submarine incident.
    - SR2Z 10mo ago
      I've used ketamine, it's not like you use it once and it destroys your mind. Using it nightly for a few months though? The effect on your brain looks like CTE.

Musk's behaviors should be separated into before drugs and after drugs. Since the day he smoked pot on camera, it's been all downhill.

by Animats 10mo ago

Musk's behaviors should be separated into before drugs and after drugs. Since the day he smoked pot on camera, it's been all downhill.

Aarostotle 10mo ago

Well reasoned. Before he smoked that reefer, his space company was catching the largest booster ever made with metal chopsticks, all paid for by global satellite internet revenue. His electric crossover/SUV was the best selling car in America. Now that he’s gotten distracted by politics I dislike, he’s not doing any of that. Definitely no longer the world’s greatest builder. /s

tw04 10mo ago
> all paid for by global satellite internet revenue. Huh? You think starlink is funding space-x? If they lost all government and private launch business tomorrow and had to rely on Stalink revenues to stay in business they wouldn’t last through next month. > His electric crossover/SUV was the best selling car in America. It was, and then he fried his brain and decided to support fascists across the globe and can’t understand why people no longer want to support him or his businesses. He apparently watched handmaid’s tale and thought “man those Gilead guys are really onto something”.
- Aloha 10mo ago
  I dont think Starlink can actually make money without government subsidies and a whole lot of inactive users. It simply cannot scale, the width spot beams are limited by physics - they cannot get small enough to get the density needed.
  - ben_w 10mo ago
    I think that's the point? I'd always assumed Starlink was a way to fill in coverage gaps in low-density areas where cable would cost more than it was worth, not cities?
- pavlov 10mo ago
  He didn’t need to watch Handmaid’s Tale. He grew up in 1970s South Africa and has never accepted that this model of society lost. He and Thiel claim South Africa’s current government is engaged in genocide against whites, but they have never criticized apartheid.
  - sdoering 10mo ago
    On that front an interesting read is: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk-peter-thiel-apartheid-south-africa https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk...
  - SR2Z 10mo ago
    Supposedly the South African side of his family is actually pretty reasonable - it's the Canadian side that had the virulent racists.
- locknitpicker 10mo ago
  > Huh? You think starlink is funding space-x? In the last year alone, around 2/3 of space X's revenue was directly tied to starlink launches. > If they lost all government and private launch business tomorrow and had to rely on Stalink revenues to stay in business they wouldn’t last through next month. That's kind of the problem.
idiotsecant 10mo ago
The irony of the biggest welfare queen in the world being worshipped by libertarian tech bros is too much sometimes.
- SR2Z 10mo ago
  Dude, nobody with a brain thinks he would have succeeded without the subsidies and support, but that still doesn't invalidate his achievements. It's really annoying that I'm defending him because I find him reprehensible, but the truth is that he's accomplished some crazy things.
  - ben_w 10mo ago
    > the truth is that he's accomplished some crazy things. I would argue: yes, to the extent that a leader gets to be described as having "accomplished" the work of the team. It's not nothing, to be a visionary and charismatic leader! But at the same time… when the reality distortion field seems to be in the process of transforming into a cult of personality, I think it's fair to ask if he'll ever again do something like a new SpaceX or a new Tesla, either as a maker or an investor. I'm not sure when the cut-off between the two states, RDF and cult, would be. Not unreasonable to say it was when he libelled the cave diver, but there are other times it could've been.

mikkupikku 10mo ago

That's very silly. Weed doesn't turn people into habitual liars. Secondly, he was abusing drugs before that interview. Thirdly, he was telling absurd lies before that interview too. The hand wringing about him smoking a blunt is absurd, he doesn't have "reefer madness".

SR2Z 10mo ago
It's not the weed that fried his brain, it's the ketamine. That moment where he smoked up on camera seems to coincide pretty well with him losing his mind, though.
- mikkupikku 10mo ago
  He was also combining ambien and wine. I don't know what that does to somebody's brain, but probably nothing good..
- redwall_hp 10mo ago
  People get ketamine treatments for depression all the time. It's not drugs, he's just a nasty person who's been good at manipulating people in the past. People have just finally caught on to the con, at least in part because he's terminally online. It's been obvious since the submarine incident.
  - SR2Z 10mo ago
    I've used ketamine, it's not like you use it once and it destroys your mind. Using it nightly for a few months though? The effect on your brain looks like CTE.