In an October 5th New York Times article, United Autoworker's President Shaun Fain stated that "Billionaires in my opinion don't have a right to exist."
I second that excellent and much-needed opinion.
Billionaires have purchased the right-wing extremists on the SCOTUS, purchased and either destroyed outright or subverted the power of many news organizations (like Twitter) and, most importantly, I think, turned their relationships with far too many politicians into nothing more than patronage troughs.
Mr. Fain is correct that the billionaire class "don't have a right to exist."
The U.S and the world would be much better off without this scourge.
professor reich: i voted for making twitter a public utility. this has been my position about twitter for a decade now, after i realized its importance to the public, the media and to me, personally, for aggregating news of the day. it's imperative that twitter is removed from elmo's treacherous poisonous possession as soon as is possible, or perhaps, even sooner.
twitter has performed a valuable function for many years and to have it crippled and bastardized like it is now is painful to see.
Billionaires have bought our media and the courts, and most valuable land and beachfronts. They are not good stewards of these things. They should not own so much and care so little. It should be against the law with penalties to have that outsized power ; especially if it is being abused. Democracy cannot exist with this blight of inequity, nor could decency.
Tweedle dump and "Twitter" Dee, Elon Musk has acquired the wealth that could negatively affect the health of this country, and "X" doesn't mark the spot.
We have allowed the Titans of technology, most of them owned and operated by a single person, to run roughshod over our democracies, our communities and our countries for their own personal profit. There is no regulation, no guard rails, no proper vetting, and yet they have become the number one source of “news and information” in the world. This is incredibly dangerous and we are already feeling, the very destructive results. We must not allow Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, etc. to weaponize free speech, and point hundreds of millions of people in whatever illicit direction they so choose. This is mass manipulation, clear and simple. This is Hitler all over again. We ignore this at our peril. There’s plenty of room for free speech without promoting lies and misinformation. There’s plenty of cause to challenge Netanyahu and Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians and vice versa. There is serious wrong on both sides of the line. But nothing can justify what is happening to Israel, and what will be happening to the 2 million people that live in the open air prison called Gazza. The attack on Israel is horrific and completely unacceptable. But this is what happens when we allow an imbecile and his son-in-law to take charge of peace talks. Need I remind anyone that the David accord “negotiations” didn’t even include the Palestinians. Absurd! But why would they when Mr. Kushner’s only interest was in developing his relationship with the Saudi financiers that would fund his VC. Two State solution? Middle East Peace? Nonsense! This is what happens when we put people in charge for whom money and personal profit is all that matters. Trump, Kushner, musk, Zuckerberg… They’re all members of the same oligarchs club and we are not invited.
Hopefully all free-thinking users of X wise up and learn to distinguish between lies and truth, wherever they are found. But that's a dream and the malign will always try to manipulate the gullible - there are plenty of both. So the answer is regulation. Happy to see that the EU is getting tough with Musk and will probably impose heavy fines before blocking X in Europe.
Freedom of speech is not the freedom to lie. There is always going to be a struggle here. Which is best, to regulate or to nationalize? I am torn on these two. Yet, there is another strategy at the personal level that some have already mentioned, cancel your account and ignore X. The same is true for Amazon. Bezos may not have the abrasiveness of Musk, but he still demands attention. Not buying and not using are strategies that lower the oxygen levels for these corporate catastrophes.
Yelling fire in a theater may be actually legal but the ensuing consequences are not! License to speak freely comes with responsibilities. Free speech is not FREE!
It must be viewed in holistic way, just like gun rights advocates would love us to ignore the terrible consequences. Of course, any restrictions on free speech content can (and will) be twisted to condone its own terrible outcomes, but let us all make the package of free speech bigger to include the consequences.
A most delicate balance but one that an enlightened society must face.
as often happens, I wake up in the middle of the night. turn on the computer and you suck me in.
First, and most important, I thank you for your lifetime of work on behalf of part of my chosen family.
I think Musk has too much power. The problem is not just that he owns twitter. or x. The problem is he has 42 billion dollars to spend on twitter.
I don't know what to do about it. I think there is nothing to be done about it but you have suggested that I need to act as though I think there is something I can do about it. as I think you put it, I can be pessimistic but should not be cynical. I have promised someone that try not to be cynical.
That being said, I have no idea what I can or should do.
The smart money has already exited. Time for responsible news organizations to follow suit and quit diluting the raw sewage. IMO, the accumulated bleed will eventually brand X as the digital Enquirer that nobody relies upon for real news.
I don’t trust Musk as far as I could throw him! On the other hand, media in general has lost my trust. I believe what you and Heather Cox Richardson write and that’s about it. If I cannot see or witness an event myself, the evidence needs annotations to it’s authenticity or I am skeptical. The idea that there are “two sides to every story” is not represented in the “news”. I keep that in mind as I read the NY Times, my general go-to. National TV news borders on the absurd as it uses “shock and awe”, as W used to say, to hook viewership. Social medias like Twitter and FB are not ‘news’ in any way shape or form. They are outrageous open forums where people vent “magical thinking”, as they say in psychiatry. Making informed decisions these days is a crap-shoot at best. “You pays your money and you takes your choice.” I am not apathetic so it is frustrating to try and remain informed. It used to be, there were certain news reporters one could trust to give the news without bias. Today, I cannot name one. Every snippet of every story needs thorough research.AI will (has?)make fact checking impossible. Add that to technology over-reach into our private lives (as in Cambridge Analytica) and the “Matrix” becomes our reality. Maybe it already has.
In an October 5th New York Times article, United Autoworker's President Shaun Fain stated that "Billionaires in my opinion don't have a right to exist."
I second that excellent and much-needed opinion.
Billionaires have purchased the right-wing extremists on the SCOTUS, purchased and either destroyed outright or subverted the power of many news organizations (like Twitter) and, most importantly, I think, turned their relationships with far too many politicians into nothing more than patronage troughs.
Mr. Fain is correct that the billionaire class "don't have a right to exist."
The U.S and the world would be much better off without this scourge.
I closed my account and haven’t gone back. There are other, less poisonous places to go.
professor reich: i voted for making twitter a public utility. this has been my position about twitter for a decade now, after i realized its importance to the public, the media and to me, personally, for aggregating news of the day. it's imperative that twitter is removed from elmo's treacherous poisonous possession as soon as is possible, or perhaps, even sooner.
twitter has performed a valuable function for many years and to have it crippled and bastardized like it is now is painful to see.
Never been on Twitter. Don't need to be on Twitter and never listen what this man has to say.
Yes, I think he has too much influence.
Billionaires have bought our media and the courts, and most valuable land and beachfronts. They are not good stewards of these things. They should not own so much and care so little. It should be against the law with penalties to have that outsized power ; especially if it is being abused. Democracy cannot exist with this blight of inequity, nor could decency.
Tweedle dump and "Twitter" Dee, Elon Musk has acquired the wealth that could negatively affect the health of this country, and "X" doesn't mark the spot.
We have allowed the Titans of technology, most of them owned and operated by a single person, to run roughshod over our democracies, our communities and our countries for their own personal profit. There is no regulation, no guard rails, no proper vetting, and yet they have become the number one source of “news and information” in the world. This is incredibly dangerous and we are already feeling, the very destructive results. We must not allow Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, etc. to weaponize free speech, and point hundreds of millions of people in whatever illicit direction they so choose. This is mass manipulation, clear and simple. This is Hitler all over again. We ignore this at our peril. There’s plenty of room for free speech without promoting lies and misinformation. There’s plenty of cause to challenge Netanyahu and Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians and vice versa. There is serious wrong on both sides of the line. But nothing can justify what is happening to Israel, and what will be happening to the 2 million people that live in the open air prison called Gazza. The attack on Israel is horrific and completely unacceptable. But this is what happens when we allow an imbecile and his son-in-law to take charge of peace talks. Need I remind anyone that the David accord “negotiations” didn’t even include the Palestinians. Absurd! But why would they when Mr. Kushner’s only interest was in developing his relationship with the Saudi financiers that would fund his VC. Two State solution? Middle East Peace? Nonsense! This is what happens when we put people in charge for whom money and personal profit is all that matters. Trump, Kushner, musk, Zuckerberg… They’re all members of the same oligarchs club and we are not invited.
I have never had an account on twitter/X. I realize many thought the platform was useful. I did not. I still don’t.
Hopefully all free-thinking users of X wise up and learn to distinguish between lies and truth, wherever they are found. But that's a dream and the malign will always try to manipulate the gullible - there are plenty of both. So the answer is regulation. Happy to see that the EU is getting tough with Musk and will probably impose heavy fines before blocking X in Europe.
Freedom of speech is not the freedom to lie. There is always going to be a struggle here. Which is best, to regulate or to nationalize? I am torn on these two. Yet, there is another strategy at the personal level that some have already mentioned, cancel your account and ignore X. The same is true for Amazon. Bezos may not have the abrasiveness of Musk, but he still demands attention. Not buying and not using are strategies that lower the oxygen levels for these corporate catastrophes.
Yelling fire in a theater may be actually legal but the ensuing consequences are not! License to speak freely comes with responsibilities. Free speech is not FREE!
It must be viewed in holistic way, just like gun rights advocates would love us to ignore the terrible consequences. Of course, any restrictions on free speech content can (and will) be twisted to condone its own terrible outcomes, but let us all make the package of free speech bigger to include the consequences.
A most delicate balance but one that an enlightened society must face.
Social media are anti-social.
Unsubscribe, and support proper verified journalism in responsible MSM.
Professor,
as often happens, I wake up in the middle of the night. turn on the computer and you suck me in.
First, and most important, I thank you for your lifetime of work on behalf of part of my chosen family.
I think Musk has too much power. The problem is not just that he owns twitter. or x. The problem is he has 42 billion dollars to spend on twitter.
I don't know what to do about it. I think there is nothing to be done about it but you have suggested that I need to act as though I think there is something I can do about it. as I think you put it, I can be pessimistic but should not be cynical. I have promised someone that try not to be cynical.
That being said, I have no idea what I can or should do.
As always
Much love
Fred
The smart money has already exited. Time for responsible news organizations to follow suit and quit diluting the raw sewage. IMO, the accumulated bleed will eventually brand X as the digital Enquirer that nobody relies upon for real news.
I don’t trust Musk as far as I could throw him! On the other hand, media in general has lost my trust. I believe what you and Heather Cox Richardson write and that’s about it. If I cannot see or witness an event myself, the evidence needs annotations to it’s authenticity or I am skeptical. The idea that there are “two sides to every story” is not represented in the “news”. I keep that in mind as I read the NY Times, my general go-to. National TV news borders on the absurd as it uses “shock and awe”, as W used to say, to hook viewership. Social medias like Twitter and FB are not ‘news’ in any way shape or form. They are outrageous open forums where people vent “magical thinking”, as they say in psychiatry. Making informed decisions these days is a crap-shoot at best. “You pays your money and you takes your choice.” I am not apathetic so it is frustrating to try and remain informed. It used to be, there were certain news reporters one could trust to give the news without bias. Today, I cannot name one. Every snippet of every story needs thorough research.AI will (has?)make fact checking impossible. Add that to technology over-reach into our private lives (as in Cambridge Analytica) and the “Matrix” becomes our reality. Maybe it already has.
So, Elon Musk? Just another brick in the wall.
I cancelled my account just after Musk purchased Twitter. It became a site I did not trust.