Oct 5, 2022·edited Oct 5, 2022Liked by Robert Reich
The larger question for me is, if a supposedly civilized society hands over a massive lie- and rage-amplification system to what is arguably the world's strangest combination of Bond villain mixed with stereotypical spoiled frat guy from an about-to-be-cancelled CW show, does America really deserve to make it? I mean, is there a point where the willingness of our system to sell out the most basic principles and protections for a short-term stock bounce that benefits a tiny sliver of the population gets us officially declared an enemy of the world and our species?
“... by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.”
— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
“There’s an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they’ve worked out.”
— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
“It is a well known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Just remember. When given the choice between truth and a good story, the good story wins >every time.< That's what the Democrats consistently fail to appreciate in their campaigns. They're not much good at telling good stories.
DZK ; Speaking of Douglas Adams' Hichhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : we in Easthampton, MA are experiencing several of the many types of rain described by one of the characters in England. We may get as rainy as England with changes in climate.
I'm thinkin' someone should get all biblical prophet with DeDickhead, and lay into him with his own barbaric ideology mirrored back at him, that Ian was his heathen god's righteous wrath over his recent bullshit antic with the immigrants, and his whole barbaric approach to dictating everyone else's beliefs otherwise!
DZK, I have been thinking the same thing. It seems "god's wrath" only is visited upon those we don't like. If we are hit, it is just a challenge or burden we must bear. DeSantis claims to be so Christian, so why isn't he seeing his lying and cheating as sins? I guess that's because he thinks he is god's chosen and like King David, can do whatever he wants and it's OK. It seems some Christians can make any excuse for the cruelty they perpetrate. I guess that is why Trump isn't really Christian. He doesn't even have to pretend anything. He can just do whatever he wants, like a spoilt toddler, no sin and no accountability either.
Does the term "Christofascist" fit? My favorite new word thanks to author Carolyn Baker. It encompasses Fundamentalism, Evangelicalism and hard right Catholism of Opus Dei. Social concerns Catholics and mainstream Protestants are still the good Christian folk. (Good as in its root, Godlike.)
Here's the thing,Christian nationalist doesn't work,Christ doesn't harm,discriminate ,threaten or intimidate. This DeStupid character has a great love for violating people's First Amendment rights,I saw a great article the other day,cited at least 1/2 dozen cases.Also loves to spend state money on his shenanigans.What a guy!!!
You seem to be saying Christian forgiveness is quite flexible! From "Godspell"" "Yes! It's all for the best!" (And Yes! That's >exactly< the meaning and intent of that song.)
That Old Testament god is a ham-handed prick - that's common knowledge. Having said that, I'm >certain< there were plenty of righteous Jews that got slaughtered in both destructions of Israel. After all, that god could only find one righteous man when it destroyed Sodom. Indeed, how hard did that self-styled "omniscient" god even look? How hard was it even >able< to look? No mention of that, and only the survivors could write their best guess at the history! (Assuming >any< of it is historically accurate - anything more than just the cautionary campfire tales of nomads. Ghost stories around the campfire are popular to this very day!)
DZK ; The Bible was written by men. Period. There may have been books written by women who were able to learn to write, but they were destroyed no doubt. I know of none, but am no scholar of such things. I am curious though. History is Herstory, too.
Today, of all days, is Yom Kippur. What you miss is that you are supposed to beat the hell out of yourself today. And arguably the moral of the story is God should pick a new chosen person next time.
DZK : The way things are going, with the clueless and careless buying our mass communications media, who knows if things could get worse on the environmental front, (which is all encompassing and surrounds all of us on this world).
Middle class is actually shrinking. What constitutes the middle class in American anyway these days? Median income is around 60K in the US. That is not middle class in 2022. To be in the middle in my neck of the woods you need at least 100K income to even buy a home here in Florida where I live unless you want to live in a trailer.
According to stats that I found, here are some numbers:
average household income
The median personal income in the United States is $44,225, with the average personal income at $63,214. In 2022, actual salaries were on average $67,521, and family income was $87,864.
Charlie.....try to buy a house in my neighborhood if you have a family income of just 87K. I have a six figure income and I could not afford to buy the house I have lived in for 35 years. There are many millions of families who make much less than 87K. Half of American families make less and half make more.
I don't know where you live, but here in GA 87 grand would be a very good income, and you could get a fine home with acreage, but, unfortunately, the median is 61 grand here. Where I live in north Georgia the median is much less than that. I'm an old retired dude trying to live on much less than that. A few years ago, I was doing ok, but since Covid and the resulting inflation I'm having a very hard time. It's pretty sad how close trying to survive in the world is now for most of us.
Regrettably, I couldn't find the exact quote about the planet whose inhabitants, after of generations and generations of work and study, developed one universal language, and destroyed themselves because they came to know >exactly< what they were saying to each other.
TR and William Howard Taft took on John D, Rockefeller, the Musk of his time. FDR took on a cabal that would have turned the country into a Fascists' state.
Daniel, a slight but important correction. Rockefeller was blunted in his most egregious actions by one of the finest journalists America has ever produced, Ida Tarbell, who wrote the tell-all expose "A History of Standard Oil" for McClure's Magazine, exposing just how dreadful this man was and the monster he created.
What finally transformed public perceptions of "the most hated man in America" was the work of a publicist named Ivy Baker who came up with philanthropy as the way to change how Americans viewed the ultra-rich. JDR I soon became known not for his vast wealth but for giving dimes to newsboys and, eventually, for the various health and education charities that he supported.
JDR II, a much nicer fellow, expanded on dad's philanthropy and set the tone for Bill Gates and other outrageously rich people going forward. After all, why not give away a few percent of your huge riches to change people's focus and perceptions? It works every time, if used, a lesson that Musk and others have yet to learn.
Porter, you are right about Rockefeller being damaged by Ida Tarbell but it took recognition by the government of his bad behavior that stopped a lot more of it. That philanthropy movement did a lot of good, but it lulled we the people into thinking these rich guys actually cared for us and our nation beyond their ability to accumulate money and power. I think some have a touch of care, maybe Bill Gates a bit but as you say, a few percent of their massive wealth. That's not much to pacify the people and is a big price for all of us to pay to let them run free through our economy.
"There Will Be Blood" is inspired by the first 150 pages of "Oil" by Uptown Sinclair. Sinclair, who wrote "Oil" in the context of the Teapot Dome scandal. It is loosely based on the life of Edward L. Doheny and Pan American Petroleum & Transport Company.
The dangerous personalities of these men are on full display, as is their reckless ambition.
I've written about this extensively. A neighbor was the daughter of TW Phillips, as in Phillips-Conoco Oil. The Mellon family as in Carnegie Mellon and Mellon Bank and Alcoa Aluminum was the richest in the US at one time. I knew lawyers who were sent from Pa to OK to steal oil leases in the 1920s and 30s. Andrew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, won Gulf Oil in a card game. Many of the robber barons who dominated the Permian Basin in Tejas were also from Pa.
These folks believed they had a "territorial imperative" to conquer and were "all in" in the "science" of eugenics.
Ironically Albert T. Fall took his "fall" for Sinclair Oil and Warren G. Harding.
BTW before Rockefeller were Carnegie and religious social reformers who exhibited noblesse oblige. In the culture pattern of the time, Rockefeller was a "new money" snake oil salesman from Cleveland who would not be accepted in New York/Newport oligarch society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Gospel
It's a correction because it wasn't simply the efforts of Teddy Roosevelt or Taft that limited the nefarious actions of Rockefeller, and Rockefeller, for all his faults, was not a snake oil salesman (that was his father) but a very smart investor, oil man and innovator, a dealer in commodities who jumped on oil finds in Pennsylvania, pulled together a team to exploit and expand them and later saw promise in developing oil fields in Ohio as well.
I hate to be in a position of defending this guy, who treated his workers abysmally but did want to draw attention to the use of philanthropy to change public perceptions of the ultra-rich. Carnegie understood that (note the Carnegie libraries all over the northeast) and Bill Gates does too, but not Bezos and definitely not Musk.
By the way, with regard to Musk, note the article on the culture of sexual harassment and abuse at Tesla reported in the current issue of Rolling Stone. Musk is definitely not the person we want running one of our most influential social media sites.
I come from a town 50 miles from Oil City/Franklin and 90 miles from Cleveland. Many of our own robber barons have been partners with Rockefeller. I caddied for a guy who had been in a family that made barrels. Originally oil was shipped in barrels. Rockefeller controlled the entire barrel industry. Gasoline was sold initially as patent medicine. He passed himself off as a Baptist preacher, combining salvation with oil. The idea of the "trust" was started by Standard Oil of Ohio (a/k/a Boron) . He started with oil but controlled practically all transportation . In 1892 the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the Standard Oil trust dissolved, but it effectively continued to operate from headquarters in New York City. It got so bad that Mrs Rockefeller's body was trapped in a refrigerator car in Cleveland after he fled to New York.
I live in Seattle and Microsoft headquarters are close by. I've kinda been following Gates through the years and I'm more convinced that Melissa was
behind most of the philanthropy. However, it was reported that she/they spent 1/2 Billion bucks on just the building of their Gates Foundation headquarters somewhere here in town. They split about the time the controversy of Bill (somehow) involved with Jeffrey Epstein. So, I don't know just how much (true and honest) philanthropy was conducted out of that headquarters. Also here in Seattle is an Amazon headquarters where the
2 huge "Amazon Domes" were built. I've never been there because that part of town is difficult to maneuver through.
I've also got a gripe that THAT cretinous clan (of Trumps) were the ones to
acquire the home property built by Marjorie Wetherill Post back in the Art Neauveau/Art Deco days and turn it into a 'country club' for the - very well healed. I doubt that any of them (much of) a clue about the art/ artists/ creators of that edifice, but only that it's all a - perfectly gaudy place to host -
Porter, you are so very right about not wanting an amoral actor like Musk running one of our most influential social media platforms. Why are so many pushing for his purchase of it. That is just nuts!
While FDR may have taken on the cabal, it took Marine Corps Brigadier Smedley D. Butler to find it. If you haven't, I strongly recommend you read "War is a Racket," by Smedley D. Butler. Elon Musk is just another spoiled child too big for his britches.
Daniel, Thanks for the reminder from history (TR and FDR. It would be great if we could get our current leaders to make history now that people in the future will cite. It seems stopping Musk and his ilk should be a priority. They may have made some contributions to the world, but they are also committing acts against the world that could easily overshadow their positive contributions.
I completely agree. Giving someone of Musk's character this huge public influencing Twitter would be a very, very damaging mistake. He has a history of screwing his own workers (similar to Bezos) of fair wages and I do not even want to talk about Amber Heard and sex parties. What I find interesting/disgusting is that those with enormous wealth become people who just want more personal wealth at the expense of all others. Lets not forget the playground that Epstein provided and they readily joined in. Excessive wealth with apparently NO consequences for those who have it. Really a sickness of greed. The U.S. government should NOT be subsidizing (Space X, Blue Origin, etc.) these people with U.S. Taxpayer (the real TRUE PATRIOTS) dollars. They do NOT need it. Read the ProPublica article on, "How the Rich Avoid Paying Taxes." These mega-rich actors and through mouthpieces (lobbyists, NRA, etc.) have already made too many, if not all, of "our" representatives paid "slaves" (through campaign contributions) to do as their money pays for. How many more laws will be passed that benefits these wealthy businesspeople at the expense of society at large? Why do we allow large corporations to move production into cheap labor countries, even communist (But it is so bad) countries, laying off workers getting paid middle-class paying wages here? Goodbye taxes being paid into the government. No consequences for the corporations such as high tariffs to sell their products back into this country. The rich avoid paying taxes, the good paying jobs are shipped away (another loss of taxes). Meanwhile basic government services (that must be supported by tax dollars) are delayed for "lack of funds". It is "stolen" funds from the TRUE PATRIOTS (Taxpayers). Most people did not know that there was a companion piece of legislature that traveled with the PPP proposal for one hundred million dollars to RETRAIN AMERICAN WORKERS WHO WOULD BE LAID OFF IF THE PPP PASSED! Hillary said the PPP legislation was the "gold standard" in trade deals. One reason she did NOT get elected. We MUST get private money OUT of our political process as anyone can see , especially after the Citizens United decision, the devastating negative impact this has Americans Quality of Life. Bezos and Musk can simply purchase an island next to Ellisons. They have enough money for generations upon generations of their future family members. Meanwhile these decisions have "provided" over 500,000 homeless people and a FOR PROFIT Health Insurance system. Their contempt for humanity is callous. People, this is beyond crazy that we accept this. Musk should not be allowed the opinion swaying mouthpiece of Twitter. He simply has demonstrated a stunning lack of compassion for others and extremely too self-absorbed to have earned it.
I agree. Bill Gates form of philanthropy is really a power grab to control the masses in the healthcare field while Elon Musk's power grab is for controlling the media.
"The world's strangest combination of Bond villain mixed with stereotypical spoiled frat guy from an about-to-be-cancelled CW show" is the best description of Musk I have yet seen.
I recently watched a few interviews with Musk from years ago. He was different then. Grotesque wealth has changed him, and not for the better
Ian, your question is one to be considered. It seems we the people will do nearly anything for money even to a child-man who deserves none of the power he has attained but which he can use against us in the form of Donald Trump and his warped anti-American "friends." We need to do a serious rethink. Stopping the deal on national security or anti-trust grounds would take care of the problem. Do we have the courage to do that. I don't think so. 45 billion or whatever nonsense amount Musk threw out there can corrupt a lot of people.
Ruth, the "child-man" aspect is something that truly frightens me. At the end of the day, the man just isn't very smart. He's long had wealth, which can influence people to see intelligence, savviness, power, etc. when it is not really there. But at this point, there are thousands of documents and countless video evidence that show he is an incompetent, arrogant, horrific human being and businessman....and THIS is the guy people sell their souls and reputations for? If he was able to do this, god help us if a smarter person with similar goals gets in power. At the end of the day, Trump could very well save the country by pulling the veil back on just how much we truly did not stand for anything, how much we were always lacking in legitimate checks and balances and systems of justice.
As for Elon Musk, concerning today's discussion topic: "It is a dark hour, and your arrogant belief that you are capable of anything has only made it darker. "
-- Da Vinci's Demons, Season 2, Ep 3, toward end, in Da Vinci's reverie of "The Turk" speaking to him as he waits in the submersible (i.e. SpaceX, Twitter) he invents.
Ian - You certainly make an excellent point. Is there no point beyond which we will not go in our thirst for ever more money and power for - as you say - a tiny sliver of the population. I guess we will see. So sad.
The most frustrating part of this completely transparent collapse of Empire is that it is as clear as day what will happen when it all goes to hell. COVID just showed us. As Musk and his "born-on-third and thought they hit a triple" gang of billionaires continue to tear apart the social fabric keeping people from civil war, they simultaneously work to insulate themselves from consequences. Homes around the world and private security. Media control to ensure that when the collapse occurs, billions will be spent to convince people it isn't happening, or it's not us or friendly neighborhood corporations with beautifully diverse employees displayed on their website that are the issue...it's (Insert Algorithmic Result Of Issue Most Likely to Distract This Viewer Here)!! Yes, they are responsible. That's exactly what happened as COVID raged and corporations and their government "employees" had to ensure that under no circumstances could the American people see the government as a savior, as a meaningful institution that can do something right. They would see the world collapse and die by plague before undoing their successful decades-long hypnosis that has hundreds of millions convinced that public servants and regulations are evil and only quirky white tech-bro-geniuses and old men with third and fourth homes know what's best to solve every issue on god's formally green earth.
You are right in so many ways, Ian. In Robert's column yesterday, I believe, he was asking why there are no quarterly reports on corporate profits - the way there are for jobs, consumer price index, etc. It had never even occurred to me before that this is something that should also be front and center. Corporate leaders have done a good job of hiding real profit numbers and not providing them at all. It is so painful to see how very much our country is divided between the haves and have nots...and how this divide continues to grow. Where it all ends is hard to know. Be well...
I agree. Thank you for this dialogue. We need more people to wake up and understand this huge economic divide concerning how big money and their grossly rich CEOs plus the Wall Street magnates, who control too many political leaders; who control the increased numbers and quality of news media outlets across the country. They have contrived to confuse people, like me, who find it increasingly more difficult to find the truth.
We have to work to keep our democracy and do the necessary due diligence by visiting websites like PDA, and Roots Action, listen to PBS news and read the British Guardian before we vote.
It is imperative that we think globally - especially since the US government continues to insert its power militarily politically, and economically, in countless countries and places around the world. We need more people to wake up to exactly what, who, and how billionaires and their multinational conglomerates are destroying our Democratic Republic.
Once we have clarity, we must GOTV and vote for leaders who have shown integrity in the past who are aware of the lies and corruption and who have the courage to address those corporate bosses who are undermining the possibility for all people everywhere to Live the American Dream.
Excellent post, Margaret. You know, I just told my son I think I'm going to vote straight Democratic ticket at the polls - there are just too many nutty Republicans proposing and supporting awful things. He said it's like the Republicans just draft their platform on two things - first, what will most please their rich constituents, and second, what one issue voters will go to the polls about - abortion and gun control (as in no to both). He said it's not that they care strongly about anything - they just want the power! I'm beginning to think he is exactly right.
Thank you Cynthia - I vote for people over Party, with the passion and the courage to make a stand. They are usually progressives who are concerned about people from all walks of life and of course the issues that improve my life and that of my family and friends. I get my news from our dear Professor Reich, NPR, PDA, and our local legislators.
Thank you, Ian, for pointing out the Bond-plot. Surely others have noticed the private actors like SpaceBezos and SpaceMusk getting out of Earth's atmosphere where they can have even more freedom than they have bought for themselves here on the ground. If Space Force has any sane purpose, IMHO, it's helping those two and others like them -- and there will be others -- to blow each other to smithereens. There's already a ton of space junk the 99% will have to pay to clean up anyway.
He also seems to enjoy roaming around the neighborhood and fathering chiildren w/ different women.Does he really love any of these unfortunate creatures?
I prefer this character on Space X,but stay there.!(way up there,I mean)
Berry, I do not use Twitter either, but I know a lot who do and who like its convenience and their ability to quickly connect with family and friends and to send money to family members. Those who don't use Twitter can be excused for not liking it for themselves, but a little empathy for those who have come to depend on it is helpful. Elon Musk needs to go away into a cave somewhere where he can count his money and no longer have any influence on anyone.
Ruth, I cannot rebut the convenience argument, since I’ve never used it or felt any need to use it. For me, email and texts and phone are fine for personal communication, and there are many sources of news that are adequately timely. As for sending money, there are other means although perhaps not as convenient. I think it would be great if millions of people quit using Twitter just to deal Musk a financial blow (assuming he goes through with the deal).
According to NYT. Twitter may be causing a clear and present danger to national security. "Soon after the F.B.I. searched Donald J. Trump’s home in Florida for classified documents, online researchers zeroed in on a worrying trend."
Posts on Twitter that mentioned “civil war” had soared nearly 3,000 percent in just a few hours as Mr. Trump’s supporters blasted the action as a provocation. Similar spikes followed, including on Facebook, Reddit, Telegram, Parler, Gab and Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s social media platform. Mentions of the phrase more than doubled on radio programs and podcasts, as measured by Critical Mention, a media-tracking firm."
Posts mentioning “civil war” jumped again a few weeks later, after President Biden branded Mr. Trump and “MAGA Republicans” a threat to “the very foundations of our republic” in a speech on democracy in Philadelphia."
Now experts are bracing for renewed discussions of civil war, as the Nov. 8 midterm elections approach and political talk grows more urgent and heated."
Daniel, that is really worrying. There are a lot of people who have been carefully "groomed" to see every criticism of their Donnie as a step toward some kind of "civil war." A bunch of educated white men for their own aggrandizement have laid the groundwork for this feeling of dysphoria that a lot of white middle American (working-class) people are now experiencing. On the rare occasions when one of those people is asked what is leading toward those feelings, they mention the economy but are never asked if that is a serious enough problem to start a civil war over. Why the social media sites are not forced to purge such entries is beyond me. Trump is no longer president, so whatever he says should not hold much weight. In addition, no matter how secret or non-secret the documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago are, Trump stole them! We all need to stop quibbling about that. Trump and Kump stole them and should be treated as thieves. Then, later, deal with what was in the documents. Democrats need to keep saying that and how sad it is that we have a former president who would steal documents, then accuse others of planting them at his home - We understand Christians see stealing as a sin. Are Trump supporters supporting sin? (That sin of stealing is actually in the 10 Commandments conservative Christians claim to revere so highly.) We need to be prosecuting the insurrectionists more quickly because the American people are losing interest in this as old news. Our attention span is very short for just about everything except for grievances, grudges, hates, and fears, and the Trumpers and Trumpettes have all of these in quantity even if they can't identify or explain them. We the people will have to address them to head off more trouble. One way to get started is to vote in people who actually think, care about the future of this nation, and who don't carry around those grudges et al which will get in the way of honest governing on behalf of all the people of this nation, not just the wealthy white few and a child-man former president.
DK, maybe it is both the media and the writers, the platform and the contributors. It can't be one without the other. The platform can restrict who writes/contributes and the cable "news" sources can screen the stories for honesty and fairness. Some do, but right now, "conservative" TV news is, it seems, working for the violence Trump and Kump want so they can get back in power in positions they were voted out of. One would hope the FCC would step in to help, but alas, not yet.
Daniel Solomon ; I have heard the "Civil War" phrase on main stream television for awhile and often. It almost seems like there is an interest in getting people to fight. We know who owns the media. More and more now, especially with Elon Musk' s renewed quest to make Twitter all His!
In my humble opinion Twitter and Facebook should both disappear forever. If it weren’t for these platforms disinformation and lies wouldn’t be so prevalent. DJT wouldn’t have the huge following he has, wouldn’t have been able to voice his disgusting thoughts and opinions 24/7 and the world would be a much better place.
Want to share a baby picture? Send an email. Want to connect with an old friend? Write a letter and send it in the mail or pick up the telephone and call them. No one cares what you had for breakfast or needs to see another picture of a puppy or a flower. I am not jaded, just disappointed at the willful ignorance of so very many users of these social media platforms.
I'm confused. It's OK to read Robert Reich's messages on Substack, but if one reads them on Twitter, one is ignorant? We should abolish Twitter, removing Mr. Reich's ability to spread his message there, and restrict him to Substack...why? Because some people choose to post puppy pictures on Twitter? Visuals are bad? But no, Reich's visuals appear on Substack, where users aren't ignorant? So it's only puppy and flower visuals that are bad? If the powers that be disable evil Twitter and Facebook, no one else will develop a platform featuring posting ability? Are WhatsApp and TikTok users also ignorant? If so, we should abolish the Internet so as not to disappoint? I have a friend who doesn't use Facebook and Twitter. She's sure they're "bad." Another uses Facebook but not Twitter. She's sure only Twitter is bad. The former is anti-liberal, so Twitter is full of crazy liberals. Neither realize that, if a Twitter or Facebook user values intelligence and truth, they can use those platforms to associate with others who traffic in those commodities. Or, if one's mental universe is limited to puppies and flowers, that's where they go for media, social or othetwise. Robert Reich uses social media. Instead of lumping the esteemed professor in with the rest of us "willfully ignorant," blaming social media, and returning to communication Dark Ages, why not separate the positive from the problems and address the latter? Allowing Musk to buy Twitter could be a huge negative because he appears to have a lot in common with the problems. He's an uber-wealthy individual with capability of running Twitter as an expensive toy for spreading
his personal biases and, though carelessness and ineptitude, if not also on purpose through bias, disinformation. The real problems with the cited social media platforms won't go away by obliterating their babies and their bath water. The real issues are, no doubt, the same as before even the printing press was born: money, greed, and laziness, among others, along with -- like it or not, the unavoidable fact that the average IQ and EQ and every other such measure are just that: average. Flowerpower won't become Einstein by removing its Twitter and Facebook access. But requiring higher, more altruistic operating standards for social media -- and for all other public platforms -- could help. The problem there is: who gets to play god? Currently, our answer in too many places, is "money." That's not democracy. Another of our popular answers is "celebrity." But what bestows celebrity? Not, primarily, truth and intelligence. More like puppies and flowers. So money/greed/power aided by puppys-and-flowers/average IQ/EQ are steering our media and our country -- and are up for election.
How many puppy-and-flower accounts read Robert Reich? He could publish a daisy-covered edition?
MO, as usual, you cut right to the point. The problem is not Facebook or Twitter per se. It is that the platforms have algorithms that permit seditious comments that can incite people to violence because it works for them. Good effective regulation could fix this without harming anyone's rights. We need agencies that will do that. Part of the problem, as we all know is that the internet came into prominence so quickly and regulators are behind on getting things set up for the benefit of the people rather than the ones who use the platforms to cause harm. This could be done. Then, there's our police who could be trained to go after people causing the online harm and those who perpetrate the violence because of it. They could also be prosecuted more quickly.
Bottom line for me is 1) lack of critical thinking skills (which should be introduced in primary school and continually taught as a top priority till HS graduation); 2) algorithms; 3) irresponsible "journalism" (what ever happened to basic "who-what-where-when-why?" --- and why do there seem to be more "opinion" broadcasts than actual valid "news" broadcasts --- and why are the former allowed to call themselves "news" ?)
Anne, this is also my opinion exactly! Facebook and Twitter have caused irreparable harm to our society! On the surface, it sounds awful, but I long for the day when all social media platforms go "belly up," and we can learn once again how to REALLY communicate with each other!!
America is fast become a country run for and by billionaires. It seems that in our country, money talks and the people listen. How else did a bumpkin "billionaire" such as Trump con his way into the White House? A man totally unprepared and uninterested in the nuts and bolts of governing? In Trump's hands the White House became just another vanity project, another building to fixed the odious name "Trump" upon? Without regards to the "little people" we saw the United States begin the long crawl into despotism and an uncontrollable authoritarian regime. Isn't it clear by now that all people like Trump and Musk care about is getting more of everything, more play toys to call their own?
I've had NO interest in "Twitter" prior to Musk's purchase (maybe???) and will continue to have NO interest should he actually "close" the transaction. Here's where I believe the government has failed "we the people" in all this and what they SHOULD be doing going forward. TAX the wealth of people like Musk, Zuckerberg, Thiel, Bezos, etc. etc. if they continue to pull equity from the corporations which produced that enormous wealth in the first place, unless they are willing to re-invest in their "core" businesses. To me, it's a bit absurd that Musk (along with his circle of friends) has $44 BILLION sitting around to purchase another "toy." This, to me, is a prime example of how a small circle of computer geeks will be exerting an undo influence on, well, potentially everything. That Larry Ellison has a BILLION sitting around for whenever "Elon" needs it is NOT at all reassuring to me. It appears to me, the "game" being played here would be called "MONOPOLY."
If we are to preserve the Democratic Republic OUR ancestors built with their sweat and defended with their blood, we MUST tax the oligarchy out of existence. Not one of the current dominant oligarchs can claim an ancestor who shed sweat or blood to establish OUR country. Not one square foot of this country originated as a consequence of their sacrifices.
William, you are right, but that is so often what happens. People who run things often do nothing meaningful to get it. They inherit the wealth or business. They get sponsors who may also have not done anything to support, protect, or defend our democracy, but they get to take from it and not pay their share of taxes. We the people could stop that, but we have to have the will. A few quick changes that could help would include severely limiting lobbying in Congress (no more than 2 lobbyists per corporation or something like that and no more than the salaries for those 2 people), setting up specific procedures for vetting nominees for the Supreme Court (no religious ideologues of any religion, approval by at least 5 non-partisan non-ideological organizations like the Federalist Society, at least 5 years experience as a judge, and thorough FBI checks on past behavior and the same code of ethics as for every other federal judge), following the 14th Amendment which states that insurgents against our country cannot hold any public office ever. Those would be a good start. We do have to wake up. The Trump cult is a serious bunch, ignorant, but serious.
Kim Kardashian, whom I have no idea why she became a billionaire just paid a fine to the FEC of 1.5 million for pushing some bitcoin clone (MONOPOLY Money) on social media.
Hey David. I like your recognition of an analogy of this Musk insanity to Monopoly. Then, when those guys own everything, the game ends? What's the purpose beyond that? We do need to stop them! Our lives and this nation are not a game they can dominate.
I agree with Ian. Unfortunately, this Amercian “civilization” has neither the education level nor the discipline to deal with the unbridled free speech megaphone of a megalomaniac and his disciples… But just as it is with our elections, and our Supreme Court decisions, we get what we deserve! If you want a country that is free you must educate it first. If not, it remains at the hands of demagogues and tyrants, a theocratic society where true freedom remains an elusive concept.
Perhaps I am out of step with how things work, but at this point, I don't think the sale can be stopped. As idiotic and childish as ADHD Musk can be, he either buys it or gets hammered for backing out. HOWEVER, Twitter is only good because people like it. Recreating Twitter on a responsible platform with responsible guidance is not out of the question. THAT is how you nail the guys with too much money who think they own the world.
Let me repeat: Twitter is only a thriving platform when people use it. Those same people can gravitate elsewhere. It's the USERS who make Twitter, not the people with money. KNOW YOUR POWER.
The public should care but currently there is no government involvement in who can purchase a social media company, look at the example of the Murdochs and other right wing extremists who control our airwaves now.
Elon Musk is a genius industrialist… as well as a total idiot when it comes to people—and thus politics (he is not the only one of his kind in modern history). When he said he was making his bid to acquire Twitter for the cause of “free speech,” it dawned on me what kind of a crackpot he is. That prompted me to write a post on the matter. I did not publish it, eventually, because its format did not fit with my website’s editorial line. I am pleased to reproduce it below because I still think it can somehow serve as a wake-up call to many American minds, not just Elon's. The post was titled “Making Sense.” Here it is:
We are all in favor of free speech. Yet, this does not mean much if “speech” is seen as throwing words in the air and expecting that they will somehow make sense when falling back down. The ability to freely speak your mind is indeed a cornerstone of democracy, but it is not enough for democracy to exist if your mind is empty. Freedom, like knowledge, is built. We are not free when spewing nonsense; we are merely jailing ourselves in our own ignorance.
Most people, unfortunately, refer by default to “freedom of speech” and miss the deeper meaning of the phrase. Hitler was making “speeches” only in the material sense of the word when eructing demented rage and hatred against Jews. Speech is when you seek coherence and relevance, and your discourse is articulated enough to be submitted to the critical judgment of others. We should always be able to tell the difference if we want to live in a free society.
There is no doubt that we all have a fundamental right to say whatever we want, whenever we want to. But this is the condition of freedom, not freedom itself. Freedom is when you think. What we ask for through freedom of speech is, in that sense, the practical ability to reflect and debate as far as we wish, not a license to fall into the seduction of irresponsibility. If the saying “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” shines as the principle to hold on to, this is precisely because it refers to an instance where there is room enough for confrontation. Debating is creating each and everyone’s space for freedom. I will give my life for your right to defend your ideas because my dignity resides in accepting to have my own ideas challenged with the tools of reason. I will not give my life for the pseudo right of a mob and demagogues to yell slogans they refuse to make sense of and to deny others the right to exist.
Self-proclaimed “free speech absolutists” have a Hitler problem. They are chagrined at the thought of freedom being limited, not realizing that they could quickly find solace by making the effort to define what they are talking about. They would discover, then, that conflating the right to say anything that crosses our mind with the nature itself of freedom is effectively defending stupidity’s dictatorship. Banning Trump from Twitter is not infringing upon his freedom of speech; he morally and intellectually banned himself from the public arena of speech and debate by being a hatemonger.
The call to logic and reason is what defines democracy, not an empty claim to “freedom” that, more often than not, results in denying others their own rights (think native Americans under pioneers’ freedom, or LGBTQ people confronted with so-called religious freedom today). So, yes, let’s make sense and dare to educate each other, however harshly sometimes, through genuine debates. Let’s make freedom of speech worth its salt!
the laws of freedom of speech and the phrase itself are used in ways as a cudgel to accomplish quite the opposite. somebody should lay all that out in a nice two volume set,but it taxes my brain too much at the moment to start on that.
-Difficulty with the give and take of conversation
-Difficulty with nonverbal conversation skills (distance, loudness, tone, etc.)
-Uncoordinated movements, or clumsiness
-Anxiety and depression
The tendencies described above vary widely among people. Many learn to overcome their challenges by building on strengths.
Though the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome is no longer used, many previously diagnosed people still identify strongly and positively with being an “Aspie.”
Suppose Musk buys Twitter and lets Trump back on. People know Trump well enough by now to have settled opinions about whether or not he's worth listening to, so hopefully it will make little difference in reality, and the Democrats will win a crushing victory in November!
NYT: "Perhaps the easiest prediction to make about Mr. Musk’s Twitter takeover is that it will make him an even bigger celebrity."
At one point after Trump's expectations were diminished. Trump was miffed when Musk announced he is a DeSantis fan, Even though Trump initially praised the Musk-Twitter deal, in mid-May he posted on Truth Social, “There is no way Elon Musk is going to buy Twitter at such a ridiculous price, especially since realizing it is a company largely based on BOTS of Spam Accounts. Fake anyone?”
"So when Musk’s agreement with Twitter finally fell apart, Trump was eager to do some gloating and settle some political grievances. At a July 9 rally in Anchorage, Alaska, for Republicans Sarah Palin and Governor Mike Dunleavy, he claimed he had predicted the deal wouldn’t happen and accused Musk of lying about voting for him in 2016."
“He said the other day, ‘Oh, I’ve never voted for a Republican.’ I said, ‘I didn’t know that,’” Trump said. “He told me he voted for me, so he’s another bullshit artist.”
"Mr. Musk is, of course, already one of the most well known people in the world. But until now, his power has largely been a function of his extreme wealth and the size of his online following. He could get in flame wars, make crude jokes about senators or threaten to move his companies out of California, and all of this mattered a great deal to the people involved — but it was all ultimately soft power that was contingent on Twitter’s willingness to let him keep throwing bombs at his 108 million followers, and the public’s willingness to keep paying attention."
"Owning Twitter is different. If the deal closes, Mr. Musk will have direct control over one of the world’s largest megaphones, and will be able to use it entirely as he sees fit — whether that’s to turn it into a lawless free-for-all, take revenge on his political enemies, promote his own business ventures or do something else entirely. And given Mr. Musk’s penchant for seizing the spotlight, we can expect that whatever he chooses to do with Twitter, it won’t be boring."
Report Trump for EVERY tweet he makes, providing Musk retains that feature. If enough users do this Twitter will be inundated with reports and will most likely have to do something about it.
Nobody in the United States should have a billion dollars, or even half a billion dollars. Corporate Capitalism is returning us to the wealth distribution of Europe in the Middle Ages. It is a highway to class war and ubiquitous violent anarchy. We MUST return to the tax schedule under Eisenhower, the last good Republican President, when the top tax bracket paid 91%, and not one of them had to divest himself of a second mansion, yacht, or mistress to pay taxes. Uncontrolled Corporate capitalism and Democracy are mutually exclusive. Who said "Sell all you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven?" You cannot be both a Judeo-Christian and a corporate capitalist oligarch. These ALEC and Club for Growth predators are carpetbaggers who, for the most part, cannot claim even one ancestor who was here for the heavy lifting that established our Democratic Republic. Regulate them back into the middle class with stringent tax laws, or deport them.
As always, Dr. Reich's Office Hours question is a difficult one but one we should all think about even if Elon Musk thinks about it as little as possible. My response, Musk buying Twitter matters because the social media platform has become so large and so many people use it as a primary means of communication with others. People do business over Twitter, make important decisions on it, and do quick, but important connecting. Let's face it, Elon Musk is a child-man who never had to grow up. He acts like an 8-year-old who makes an impulsive move, then wants out, then back in, then out because it isn't going to give him all the pleasure he anticipated, then in again, probably because his friends agreed to support him and on and on. Musk cares nothing about Twitter beyond what he can get from it. The folks who use it are just bugs to be ignored as long as they stay out of the range of his shoe. He claims to want Trump "back on" but will not take responsibility for the insurgency Trump is growing. Musk wants the thing but not the responsibility. He doesn't even want the responsibility for paying for it. He would be happy if someone or a group of someones were to gift Twitter to him so he can say he owns it and paid nothing. What I don't understand is why the Twitter "owners" want to sell in the first place. Clearly Twitter is doing well enough. It is not making them a fortune but they are doing OK. Now, they have even bigger dollar signs in their eyes as the child-man Musk is now back on board with an outrageous price for Twitter. It is all just plain nuts, just another male operation to keep attention on themselves so they can get even bigger attention later. It's disgusting, but we the people permit it. The SEC or Congress should deny the sale on the grounds of national security and as an anti-trust decision. No one person should have as much wealth and power as Elon Musk. That would solve the problem.
There are so many examples (Murdoch, Berlusconi , Springer) of the effects of a high profile billionaire or a group of them owning an important media tool...they just use it to make a lots more money and for promoting their often conservative and sometimes pure fascist political views to the world and support the related political organisations from their profits with funding .... This is what I believe will happen with Twitter....and I don't think one can stop it in a democracy so no other option than to counteract it with stronger counter propaganda. I myself where will use my freedom of choice to listen to and read what I want to read and want to listen to and have conversations with people I want to have conversations with. In practise I will likely sign off Twitter, like I am ignoring many other media (eg Fox news). You will get the essence of all the BS they produce anyway but then second hand which is far less stressful and you can make a choice of what BS you want to study a bit more deeper.....and it keeps all the hatred far away form you......
My all time favorite expression, “Dumb as a Bar of Soap”! I’m going with a bar of soap! I’m going with Elon being that bar of soap! Twitter has got to be over no doubt. Why immerse yourself with bar’s of soap? It’s not a good look…debating a bar of soap! So with that I proclaim, the only thing one can expect from a bar of soap is that it’s just that…a bar of soap!
The larger question for me is, if a supposedly civilized society hands over a massive lie- and rage-amplification system to what is arguably the world's strangest combination of Bond villain mixed with stereotypical spoiled frat guy from an about-to-be-cancelled CW show, does America really deserve to make it? I mean, is there a point where the willingness of our system to sell out the most basic principles and protections for a short-term stock bounce that benefits a tiny sliver of the population gets us officially declared an enemy of the world and our species?
“... by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.”
— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
“There’s an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they’ve worked out.”
— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
“It is a well known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Just remember. When given the choice between truth and a good story, the good story wins >every time.< That's what the Democrats consistently fail to appreciate in their campaigns. They're not much good at telling good stories.
Hopefully Democrats learn to tell good but true stories. Most of the Republican stories are false & hateful.
Yep
We need another Will Rogers.
You got that right!! My favorite:
Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.
That's funny! LOL! >and< True!
Hey DZK, thanks for the visit to "hitchhiker's Guide." There was a lot of wisdom there. We should be paying attention.
DZK ; Speaking of Douglas Adams' Hichhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : we in Easthampton, MA are experiencing several of the many types of rain described by one of the characters in England. We may get as rainy as England with changes in climate.
I'm thinkin' someone should get all biblical prophet with DeDickhead, and lay into him with his own barbaric ideology mirrored back at him, that Ian was his heathen god's righteous wrath over his recent bullshit antic with the immigrants, and his whole barbaric approach to dictating everyone else's beliefs otherwise!
DZK, I have been thinking the same thing. It seems "god's wrath" only is visited upon those we don't like. If we are hit, it is just a challenge or burden we must bear. DeSantis claims to be so Christian, so why isn't he seeing his lying and cheating as sins? I guess that's because he thinks he is god's chosen and like King David, can do whatever he wants and it's OK. It seems some Christians can make any excuse for the cruelty they perpetrate. I guess that is why Trump isn't really Christian. He doesn't even have to pretend anything. He can just do whatever he wants, like a spoilt toddler, no sin and no accountability either.
Does the term "Christofascist" fit? My favorite new word thanks to author Carolyn Baker. It encompasses Fundamentalism, Evangelicalism and hard right Catholism of Opus Dei. Social concerns Catholics and mainstream Protestants are still the good Christian folk. (Good as in its root, Godlike.)
Here's the thing,Christian nationalist doesn't work,Christ doesn't harm,discriminate ,threaten or intimidate. This DeStupid character has a great love for violating people's First Amendment rights,I saw a great article the other day,cited at least 1/2 dozen cases.Also loves to spend state money on his shenanigans.What a guy!!!
Near as I can tell, Christ wasn't a nationalist, either. Hell! He wasn't even Christian! LOL! (Rabbis are Jewish.)
You seem to be saying Christian forgiveness is quite flexible! From "Godspell"" "Yes! It's all for the best!" (And Yes! That's >exactly< the meaning and intent of that song.)
'Divine' justice? But so many innocents get harmed/ killed too. I guess a superstorm is not surgical precision.
That Old Testament god is a ham-handed prick - that's common knowledge. Having said that, I'm >certain< there were plenty of righteous Jews that got slaughtered in both destructions of Israel. After all, that god could only find one righteous man when it destroyed Sodom. Indeed, how hard did that self-styled "omniscient" god even look? How hard was it even >able< to look? No mention of that, and only the survivors could write their best guess at the history! (Assuming >any< of it is historically accurate - anything more than just the cautionary campfire tales of nomads. Ghost stories around the campfire are popular to this very day!)
DZK ; The Bible was written by men. Period. There may have been books written by women who were able to learn to write, but they were destroyed no doubt. I know of none, but am no scholar of such things. I am curious though. History is Herstory, too.
Today, of all days, is Yom Kippur. What you miss is that you are supposed to beat the hell out of yourself today. And arguably the moral of the story is God should pick a new chosen person next time.
Also, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention The Flood!
DZK : The way things are going, with the clueless and careless buying our mass communications media, who knows if things could get worse on the environmental front, (which is all encompassing and surrounds all of us on this world).
Thanks for sharing some wisdom.
The Hitchhikers Guide is one of the best sci-fi satire’s written.
There is another story you might like. It is called “Sam Hall” by Poul Anderson. A bit like what our society is becoming.
Another series is the “Retief” series by Keith Laumer. On par with the Hitchhikers guide.
Thank you DZK!
!!!!! Thanks.
I appreciate your sentiment. But do you see the flaw?
No flaw: Twitter is a place for "platform speech" - it's not free speech! (It's not even open source!!)
Middle class is actually shrinking. What constitutes the middle class in American anyway these days? Median income is around 60K in the US. That is not middle class in 2022. To be in the middle in my neck of the woods you need at least 100K income to even buy a home here in Florida where I live unless you want to live in a trailer.
According to stats that I found, here are some numbers:
average household income
The median personal income in the United States is $44,225, with the average personal income at $63,214. In 2022, actual salaries were on average $67,521, and family income was $87,864.
Charlie.....try to buy a house in my neighborhood if you have a family income of just 87K. I have a six figure income and I could not afford to buy the house I have lived in for 35 years. There are many millions of families who make much less than 87K. Half of American families make less and half make more.
I don't know where you live, but here in GA 87 grand would be a very good income, and you could get a fine home with acreage, but, unfortunately, the median is 61 grand here. Where I live in north Georgia the median is much less than that. I'm an old retired dude trying to live on much less than that. A few years ago, I was doing ok, but since Covid and the resulting inflation I'm having a very hard time. It's pretty sad how close trying to survive in the world is now for most of us.
We live in a world of shit as the guy said in "Full Metal Jacket".
Regrettably, I couldn't find the exact quote about the planet whose inhabitants, after of generations and generations of work and study, developed one universal language, and destroyed themselves because they came to know >exactly< what they were saying to each other.
FYI:
https://www.npr.org/1998/02/12/1036190/babelfish-a-translator-inspired-by-the-hitchhikers-guide
https://www.babelfish.com/
Some believe it
steve e ; that there are those who belong to a category where there is "no one worth mentioning".
TR and William Howard Taft took on John D, Rockefeller, the Musk of his time. FDR took on a cabal that would have turned the country into a Fascists' state.
Daniel, a slight but important correction. Rockefeller was blunted in his most egregious actions by one of the finest journalists America has ever produced, Ida Tarbell, who wrote the tell-all expose "A History of Standard Oil" for McClure's Magazine, exposing just how dreadful this man was and the monster he created.
What finally transformed public perceptions of "the most hated man in America" was the work of a publicist named Ivy Baker who came up with philanthropy as the way to change how Americans viewed the ultra-rich. JDR I soon became known not for his vast wealth but for giving dimes to newsboys and, eventually, for the various health and education charities that he supported.
JDR II, a much nicer fellow, expanded on dad's philanthropy and set the tone for Bill Gates and other outrageously rich people going forward. After all, why not give away a few percent of your huge riches to change people's focus and perceptions? It works every time, if used, a lesson that Musk and others have yet to learn.
Porter, you are right about Rockefeller being damaged by Ida Tarbell but it took recognition by the government of his bad behavior that stopped a lot more of it. That philanthropy movement did a lot of good, but it lulled we the people into thinking these rich guys actually cared for us and our nation beyond their ability to accumulate money and power. I think some have a touch of care, maybe Bill Gates a bit but as you say, a few percent of their massive wealth. That's not much to pacify the people and is a big price for all of us to pay to let them run free through our economy.
It is a token pittance that allows them to build up too much power
"There Will Be Blood" is inspired by the first 150 pages of "Oil" by Uptown Sinclair. Sinclair, who wrote "Oil" in the context of the Teapot Dome scandal. It is loosely based on the life of Edward L. Doheny and Pan American Petroleum & Transport Company.
The dangerous personalities of these men are on full display, as is their reckless ambition.
I've written about this extensively. A neighbor was the daughter of TW Phillips, as in Phillips-Conoco Oil. The Mellon family as in Carnegie Mellon and Mellon Bank and Alcoa Aluminum was the richest in the US at one time. I knew lawyers who were sent from Pa to OK to steal oil leases in the 1920s and 30s. Andrew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, won Gulf Oil in a card game. Many of the robber barons who dominated the Permian Basin in Tejas were also from Pa.
These folks believed they had a "territorial imperative" to conquer and were "all in" in the "science" of eugenics.
Ironically Albert T. Fall took his "fall" for Sinclair Oil and Warren G. Harding.
How is that a "correction?"
BTW before Rockefeller were Carnegie and religious social reformers who exhibited noblesse oblige. In the culture pattern of the time, Rockefeller was a "new money" snake oil salesman from Cleveland who would not be accepted in New York/Newport oligarch society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Gospel
It's a correction because it wasn't simply the efforts of Teddy Roosevelt or Taft that limited the nefarious actions of Rockefeller, and Rockefeller, for all his faults, was not a snake oil salesman (that was his father) but a very smart investor, oil man and innovator, a dealer in commodities who jumped on oil finds in Pennsylvania, pulled together a team to exploit and expand them and later saw promise in developing oil fields in Ohio as well.
I hate to be in a position of defending this guy, who treated his workers abysmally but did want to draw attention to the use of philanthropy to change public perceptions of the ultra-rich. Carnegie understood that (note the Carnegie libraries all over the northeast) and Bill Gates does too, but not Bezos and definitely not Musk.
By the way, with regard to Musk, note the article on the culture of sexual harassment and abuse at Tesla reported in the current issue of Rolling Stone. Musk is definitely not the person we want running one of our most influential social media sites.
I come from a town 50 miles from Oil City/Franklin and 90 miles from Cleveland. Many of our own robber barons have been partners with Rockefeller. I caddied for a guy who had been in a family that made barrels. Originally oil was shipped in barrels. Rockefeller controlled the entire barrel industry. Gasoline was sold initially as patent medicine. He passed himself off as a Baptist preacher, combining salvation with oil. The idea of the "trust" was started by Standard Oil of Ohio (a/k/a Boron) . He started with oil but controlled practically all transportation . In 1892 the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the Standard Oil trust dissolved, but it effectively continued to operate from headquarters in New York City. It got so bad that Mrs Rockefeller's body was trapped in a refrigerator car in Cleveland after he fled to New York.
I loved Ida Tarbell but she came along later -- 1904. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Standard-Oil
Fascinating information!
I live in Seattle and Microsoft headquarters are close by. I've kinda been following Gates through the years and I'm more convinced that Melissa was
behind most of the philanthropy. However, it was reported that she/they spent 1/2 Billion bucks on just the building of their Gates Foundation headquarters somewhere here in town. They split about the time the controversy of Bill (somehow) involved with Jeffrey Epstein. So, I don't know just how much (true and honest) philanthropy was conducted out of that headquarters. Also here in Seattle is an Amazon headquarters where the
2 huge "Amazon Domes" were built. I've never been there because that part of town is difficult to maneuver through.
I've also got a gripe that THAT cretinous clan (of Trumps) were the ones to
acquire the home property built by Marjorie Wetherill Post back in the Art Neauveau/Art Deco days and turn it into a 'country club' for the - very well healed. I doubt that any of them (much of) a clue about the art/ artists/ creators of that edifice, but only that it's all a - perfectly gaudy place to host -
the filthy rich..... gak gak gak
Porter, you are so very right about not wanting an amoral actor like Musk running one of our most influential social media platforms. Why are so many pushing for his purchase of it. That is just nuts!
I remain in favor of the Eisenhower tax rates and of course he was a Republican, back when that meant something other than greed and violence.
Unfortunately, philanthropy by billionaires is getting ever more rare.
While FDR may have taken on the cabal, it took Marine Corps Brigadier Smedley D. Butler to find it. If you haven't, I strongly recommend you read "War is a Racket," by Smedley D. Butler. Elon Musk is just another spoiled child too big for his britches.
Daniel, Thanks for the reminder from history (TR and FDR. It would be great if we could get our current leaders to make history now that people in the future will cite. It seems stopping Musk and his ilk should be a priority. They may have made some contributions to the world, but they are also committing acts against the world that could easily overshadow their positive contributions.
I completely agree. Giving someone of Musk's character this huge public influencing Twitter would be a very, very damaging mistake. He has a history of screwing his own workers (similar to Bezos) of fair wages and I do not even want to talk about Amber Heard and sex parties. What I find interesting/disgusting is that those with enormous wealth become people who just want more personal wealth at the expense of all others. Lets not forget the playground that Epstein provided and they readily joined in. Excessive wealth with apparently NO consequences for those who have it. Really a sickness of greed. The U.S. government should NOT be subsidizing (Space X, Blue Origin, etc.) these people with U.S. Taxpayer (the real TRUE PATRIOTS) dollars. They do NOT need it. Read the ProPublica article on, "How the Rich Avoid Paying Taxes." These mega-rich actors and through mouthpieces (lobbyists, NRA, etc.) have already made too many, if not all, of "our" representatives paid "slaves" (through campaign contributions) to do as their money pays for. How many more laws will be passed that benefits these wealthy businesspeople at the expense of society at large? Why do we allow large corporations to move production into cheap labor countries, even communist (But it is so bad) countries, laying off workers getting paid middle-class paying wages here? Goodbye taxes being paid into the government. No consequences for the corporations such as high tariffs to sell their products back into this country. The rich avoid paying taxes, the good paying jobs are shipped away (another loss of taxes). Meanwhile basic government services (that must be supported by tax dollars) are delayed for "lack of funds". It is "stolen" funds from the TRUE PATRIOTS (Taxpayers). Most people did not know that there was a companion piece of legislature that traveled with the PPP proposal for one hundred million dollars to RETRAIN AMERICAN WORKERS WHO WOULD BE LAID OFF IF THE PPP PASSED! Hillary said the PPP legislation was the "gold standard" in trade deals. One reason she did NOT get elected. We MUST get private money OUT of our political process as anyone can see , especially after the Citizens United decision, the devastating negative impact this has Americans Quality of Life. Bezos and Musk can simply purchase an island next to Ellisons. They have enough money for generations upon generations of their future family members. Meanwhile these decisions have "provided" over 500,000 homeless people and a FOR PROFIT Health Insurance system. Their contempt for humanity is callous. People, this is beyond crazy that we accept this. Musk should not be allowed the opinion swaying mouthpiece of Twitter. He simply has demonstrated a stunning lack of compassion for others and extremely too self-absorbed to have earned it.
I agree. Bill Gates form of philanthropy is really a power grab to control the masses in the healthcare field while Elon Musk's power grab is for controlling the media.
"The world's strangest combination of Bond villain mixed with stereotypical spoiled frat guy from an about-to-be-cancelled CW show" is the best description of Musk I have yet seen.
I recently watched a few interviews with Musk from years ago. He was different then. Grotesque wealth has changed him, and not for the better
Off his meds?
I have noticed that, too. (How could one not notice?)
Ian, your question is one to be considered. It seems we the people will do nearly anything for money even to a child-man who deserves none of the power he has attained but which he can use against us in the form of Donald Trump and his warped anti-American "friends." We need to do a serious rethink. Stopping the deal on national security or anti-trust grounds would take care of the problem. Do we have the courage to do that. I don't think so. 45 billion or whatever nonsense amount Musk threw out there can corrupt a lot of people.
Ruth, the "child-man" aspect is something that truly frightens me. At the end of the day, the man just isn't very smart. He's long had wealth, which can influence people to see intelligence, savviness, power, etc. when it is not really there. But at this point, there are thousands of documents and countless video evidence that show he is an incompetent, arrogant, horrific human being and businessman....and THIS is the guy people sell their souls and reputations for? If he was able to do this, god help us if a smarter person with similar goals gets in power. At the end of the day, Trump could very well save the country by pulling the veil back on just how much we truly did not stand for anything, how much we were always lacking in legitimate checks and balances and systems of justice.
As for Elon Musk, concerning today's discussion topic: "It is a dark hour, and your arrogant belief that you are capable of anything has only made it darker. "
-- Da Vinci's Demons, Season 2, Ep 3, toward end, in Da Vinci's reverie of "The Turk" speaking to him as he waits in the submersible (i.e. SpaceX, Twitter) he invents.
Ian - You certainly make an excellent point. Is there no point beyond which we will not go in our thirst for ever more money and power for - as you say - a tiny sliver of the population. I guess we will see. So sad.
The most frustrating part of this completely transparent collapse of Empire is that it is as clear as day what will happen when it all goes to hell. COVID just showed us. As Musk and his "born-on-third and thought they hit a triple" gang of billionaires continue to tear apart the social fabric keeping people from civil war, they simultaneously work to insulate themselves from consequences. Homes around the world and private security. Media control to ensure that when the collapse occurs, billions will be spent to convince people it isn't happening, or it's not us or friendly neighborhood corporations with beautifully diverse employees displayed on their website that are the issue...it's (Insert Algorithmic Result Of Issue Most Likely to Distract This Viewer Here)!! Yes, they are responsible. That's exactly what happened as COVID raged and corporations and their government "employees" had to ensure that under no circumstances could the American people see the government as a savior, as a meaningful institution that can do something right. They would see the world collapse and die by plague before undoing their successful decades-long hypnosis that has hundreds of millions convinced that public servants and regulations are evil and only quirky white tech-bro-geniuses and old men with third and fourth homes know what's best to solve every issue on god's formally green earth.
You are right in so many ways, Ian. In Robert's column yesterday, I believe, he was asking why there are no quarterly reports on corporate profits - the way there are for jobs, consumer price index, etc. It had never even occurred to me before that this is something that should also be front and center. Corporate leaders have done a good job of hiding real profit numbers and not providing them at all. It is so painful to see how very much our country is divided between the haves and have nots...and how this divide continues to grow. Where it all ends is hard to know. Be well...
I agree. Thank you for this dialogue. We need more people to wake up and understand this huge economic divide concerning how big money and their grossly rich CEOs plus the Wall Street magnates, who control too many political leaders; who control the increased numbers and quality of news media outlets across the country. They have contrived to confuse people, like me, who find it increasingly more difficult to find the truth.
We have to work to keep our democracy and do the necessary due diligence by visiting websites like PDA, and Roots Action, listen to PBS news and read the British Guardian before we vote.
It is imperative that we think globally - especially since the US government continues to insert its power militarily politically, and economically, in countless countries and places around the world. We need more people to wake up to exactly what, who, and how billionaires and their multinational conglomerates are destroying our Democratic Republic.
Once we have clarity, we must GOTV and vote for leaders who have shown integrity in the past who are aware of the lies and corruption and who have the courage to address those corporate bosses who are undermining the possibility for all people everywhere to Live the American Dream.
Excellent post, Margaret. You know, I just told my son I think I'm going to vote straight Democratic ticket at the polls - there are just too many nutty Republicans proposing and supporting awful things. He said it's like the Republicans just draft their platform on two things - first, what will most please their rich constituents, and second, what one issue voters will go to the polls about - abortion and gun control (as in no to both). He said it's not that they care strongly about anything - they just want the power! I'm beginning to think he is exactly right.
Thank you Cynthia - I vote for people over Party, with the passion and the courage to make a stand. They are usually progressives who are concerned about people from all walks of life and of course the issues that improve my life and that of my family and friends. I get my news from our dear Professor Reich, NPR, PDA, and our local legislators.
Thank you, Ian, for pointing out the Bond-plot. Surely others have noticed the private actors like SpaceBezos and SpaceMusk getting out of Earth's atmosphere where they can have even more freedom than they have bought for themselves here on the ground. If Space Force has any sane purpose, IMHO, it's helping those two and others like them -- and there will be others -- to blow each other to smithereens. There's already a ton of space junk the 99% will have to pay to clean up anyway.
I was going to comment on the main article but Ian, you've really cut to the heart of the matter!
Ian ; Good questions!
I have never used Twitter, and if it disappears, I suspect it would be a benefit to humanity. The same goes for Musk.
Elon does have that musky malodor. It's the malodor of excessive wealth.
He also seems to enjoy roaming around the neighborhood and fathering chiildren w/ different women.Does he really love any of these unfortunate creatures?
I prefer this character on Space X,but stay there.!(way up there,I mean)
Berry, I do not use Twitter either, but I know a lot who do and who like its convenience and their ability to quickly connect with family and friends and to send money to family members. Those who don't use Twitter can be excused for not liking it for themselves, but a little empathy for those who have come to depend on it is helpful. Elon Musk needs to go away into a cave somewhere where he can count his money and no longer have any influence on anyone.
Ruth, I cannot rebut the convenience argument, since I’ve never used it or felt any need to use it. For me, email and texts and phone are fine for personal communication, and there are many sources of news that are adequately timely. As for sending money, there are other means although perhaps not as convenient. I think it would be great if millions of people quit using Twitter just to deal Musk a financial blow (assuming he goes through with the deal).
You have not missed anything.
The United States has gone totally crazy; I barely recognize us anymore.
According to NYT. Twitter may be causing a clear and present danger to national security. "Soon after the F.B.I. searched Donald J. Trump’s home in Florida for classified documents, online researchers zeroed in on a worrying trend."
Posts on Twitter that mentioned “civil war” had soared nearly 3,000 percent in just a few hours as Mr. Trump’s supporters blasted the action as a provocation. Similar spikes followed, including on Facebook, Reddit, Telegram, Parler, Gab and Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s social media platform. Mentions of the phrase more than doubled on radio programs and podcasts, as measured by Critical Mention, a media-tracking firm."
Posts mentioning “civil war” jumped again a few weeks later, after President Biden branded Mr. Trump and “MAGA Republicans” a threat to “the very foundations of our republic” in a speech on democracy in Philadelphia."
Now experts are bracing for renewed discussions of civil war, as the Nov. 8 midterm elections approach and political talk grows more urgent and heated."
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/05/us/politics/civil-war-social-media-trump.html
Daniel, that is really worrying. There are a lot of people who have been carefully "groomed" to see every criticism of their Donnie as a step toward some kind of "civil war." A bunch of educated white men for their own aggrandizement have laid the groundwork for this feeling of dysphoria that a lot of white middle American (working-class) people are now experiencing. On the rare occasions when one of those people is asked what is leading toward those feelings, they mention the economy but are never asked if that is a serious enough problem to start a civil war over. Why the social media sites are not forced to purge such entries is beyond me. Trump is no longer president, so whatever he says should not hold much weight. In addition, no matter how secret or non-secret the documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago are, Trump stole them! We all need to stop quibbling about that. Trump and Kump stole them and should be treated as thieves. Then, later, deal with what was in the documents. Democrats need to keep saying that and how sad it is that we have a former president who would steal documents, then accuse others of planting them at his home - We understand Christians see stealing as a sin. Are Trump supporters supporting sin? (That sin of stealing is actually in the 10 Commandments conservative Christians claim to revere so highly.) We need to be prosecuting the insurrectionists more quickly because the American people are losing interest in this as old news. Our attention span is very short for just about everything except for grievances, grudges, hates, and fears, and the Trumpers and Trumpettes have all of these in quantity even if they can't identify or explain them. We the people will have to address them to head off more trouble. One way to get started is to vote in people who actually think, care about the future of this nation, and who don't carry around those grudges et al which will get in the way of honest governing on behalf of all the people of this nation, not just the wealthy white few and a child-man former president.
Is it Twitter’s fault or the users and organized trolls?
Is the problem the medium or the writers?
If you know you are aiding and abetting crime, you are a criminal.
DK Brooklyn ; Could it possibly be those who actually own the 'platforms'?
DK, maybe it is both the media and the writers, the platform and the contributors. It can't be one without the other. The platform can restrict who writes/contributes and the cable "news" sources can screen the stories for honesty and fairness. Some do, but right now, "conservative" TV news is, it seems, working for the violence Trump and Kump want so they can get back in power in positions they were voted out of. One would hope the FCC would step in to help, but alas, not yet.
Daniel Solomon ; I have heard the "Civil War" phrase on main stream television for awhile and often. It almost seems like there is an interest in getting people to fight. We know who owns the media. More and more now, especially with Elon Musk' s renewed quest to make Twitter all His!
In my humble opinion Twitter and Facebook should both disappear forever. If it weren’t for these platforms disinformation and lies wouldn’t be so prevalent. DJT wouldn’t have the huge following he has, wouldn’t have been able to voice his disgusting thoughts and opinions 24/7 and the world would be a much better place.
Want to share a baby picture? Send an email. Want to connect with an old friend? Write a letter and send it in the mail or pick up the telephone and call them. No one cares what you had for breakfast or needs to see another picture of a puppy or a flower. I am not jaded, just disappointed at the willful ignorance of so very many users of these social media platforms.
🌻♥️🌻
I'm confused. It's OK to read Robert Reich's messages on Substack, but if one reads them on Twitter, one is ignorant? We should abolish Twitter, removing Mr. Reich's ability to spread his message there, and restrict him to Substack...why? Because some people choose to post puppy pictures on Twitter? Visuals are bad? But no, Reich's visuals appear on Substack, where users aren't ignorant? So it's only puppy and flower visuals that are bad? If the powers that be disable evil Twitter and Facebook, no one else will develop a platform featuring posting ability? Are WhatsApp and TikTok users also ignorant? If so, we should abolish the Internet so as not to disappoint? I have a friend who doesn't use Facebook and Twitter. She's sure they're "bad." Another uses Facebook but not Twitter. She's sure only Twitter is bad. The former is anti-liberal, so Twitter is full of crazy liberals. Neither realize that, if a Twitter or Facebook user values intelligence and truth, they can use those platforms to associate with others who traffic in those commodities. Or, if one's mental universe is limited to puppies and flowers, that's where they go for media, social or othetwise. Robert Reich uses social media. Instead of lumping the esteemed professor in with the rest of us "willfully ignorant," blaming social media, and returning to communication Dark Ages, why not separate the positive from the problems and address the latter? Allowing Musk to buy Twitter could be a huge negative because he appears to have a lot in common with the problems. He's an uber-wealthy individual with capability of running Twitter as an expensive toy for spreading
his personal biases and, though carelessness and ineptitude, if not also on purpose through bias, disinformation. The real problems with the cited social media platforms won't go away by obliterating their babies and their bath water. The real issues are, no doubt, the same as before even the printing press was born: money, greed, and laziness, among others, along with -- like it or not, the unavoidable fact that the average IQ and EQ and every other such measure are just that: average. Flowerpower won't become Einstein by removing its Twitter and Facebook access. But requiring higher, more altruistic operating standards for social media -- and for all other public platforms -- could help. The problem there is: who gets to play god? Currently, our answer in too many places, is "money." That's not democracy. Another of our popular answers is "celebrity." But what bestows celebrity? Not, primarily, truth and intelligence. More like puppies and flowers. So money/greed/power aided by puppys-and-flowers/average IQ/EQ are steering our media and our country -- and are up for election.
How many puppy-and-flower accounts read Robert Reich? He could publish a daisy-covered edition?
Mo, you totally missed the mark. Reread Anne’s post. Maybe after the second read you’ll get it.
Todd,
Thank You. Mo’s misinterpretation of my comment is not worth a response, but it is my hope that he will “get it” someday. 🌻
MO, as usual, you cut right to the point. The problem is not Facebook or Twitter per se. It is that the platforms have algorithms that permit seditious comments that can incite people to violence because it works for them. Good effective regulation could fix this without harming anyone's rights. We need agencies that will do that. Part of the problem, as we all know is that the internet came into prominence so quickly and regulators are behind on getting things set up for the benefit of the people rather than the ones who use the platforms to cause harm. This could be done. Then, there's our police who could be trained to go after people causing the online harm and those who perpetrate the violence because of it. They could also be prosecuted more quickly.
Bottom line for me is 1) lack of critical thinking skills (which should be introduced in primary school and continually taught as a top priority till HS graduation); 2) algorithms; 3) irresponsible "journalism" (what ever happened to basic "who-what-where-when-why?" --- and why do there seem to be more "opinion" broadcasts than actual valid "news" broadcasts --- and why are the former allowed to call themselves "news" ?)
Anne, this is also my opinion exactly! Facebook and Twitter have caused irreparable harm to our society! On the surface, it sounds awful, but I long for the day when all social media platforms go "belly up," and we can learn once again how to REALLY communicate with each other!!
Exactly!
America is fast become a country run for and by billionaires. It seems that in our country, money talks and the people listen. How else did a bumpkin "billionaire" such as Trump con his way into the White House? A man totally unprepared and uninterested in the nuts and bolts of governing? In Trump's hands the White House became just another vanity project, another building to fixed the odious name "Trump" upon? Without regards to the "little people" we saw the United States begin the long crawl into despotism and an uncontrollable authoritarian regime. Isn't it clear by now that all people like Trump and Musk care about is getting more of everything, more play toys to call their own?
Our Democratic Republic will never be safe until Trump and his cabal of Mammon's catamites are permanently behind bars.
I've had NO interest in "Twitter" prior to Musk's purchase (maybe???) and will continue to have NO interest should he actually "close" the transaction. Here's where I believe the government has failed "we the people" in all this and what they SHOULD be doing going forward. TAX the wealth of people like Musk, Zuckerberg, Thiel, Bezos, etc. etc. if they continue to pull equity from the corporations which produced that enormous wealth in the first place, unless they are willing to re-invest in their "core" businesses. To me, it's a bit absurd that Musk (along with his circle of friends) has $44 BILLION sitting around to purchase another "toy." This, to me, is a prime example of how a small circle of computer geeks will be exerting an undo influence on, well, potentially everything. That Larry Ellison has a BILLION sitting around for whenever "Elon" needs it is NOT at all reassuring to me. It appears to me, the "game" being played here would be called "MONOPOLY."
If we are to preserve the Democratic Republic OUR ancestors built with their sweat and defended with their blood, we MUST tax the oligarchy out of existence. Not one of the current dominant oligarchs can claim an ancestor who shed sweat or blood to establish OUR country. Not one square foot of this country originated as a consequence of their sacrifices.
William, you are right, but that is so often what happens. People who run things often do nothing meaningful to get it. They inherit the wealth or business. They get sponsors who may also have not done anything to support, protect, or defend our democracy, but they get to take from it and not pay their share of taxes. We the people could stop that, but we have to have the will. A few quick changes that could help would include severely limiting lobbying in Congress (no more than 2 lobbyists per corporation or something like that and no more than the salaries for those 2 people), setting up specific procedures for vetting nominees for the Supreme Court (no religious ideologues of any religion, approval by at least 5 non-partisan non-ideological organizations like the Federalist Society, at least 5 years experience as a judge, and thorough FBI checks on past behavior and the same code of ethics as for every other federal judge), following the 14th Amendment which states that insurgents against our country cannot hold any public office ever. Those would be a good start. We do have to wake up. The Trump cult is a serious bunch, ignorant, but serious.
Kim Kardashian, whom I have no idea why she became a billionaire just paid a fine to the FEC of 1.5 million for pushing some bitcoin clone (MONOPOLY Money) on social media.
Peanuts/slap on the wrist however you phrase it.
Hey David. I like your recognition of an analogy of this Musk insanity to Monopoly. Then, when those guys own everything, the game ends? What's the purpose beyond that? We do need to stop them! Our lives and this nation are not a game they can dominate.
We tried that but our dear crackpot Senator Sin-a-ma said no.
I agree with Ian. Unfortunately, this Amercian “civilization” has neither the education level nor the discipline to deal with the unbridled free speech megaphone of a megalomaniac and his disciples… But just as it is with our elections, and our Supreme Court decisions, we get what we deserve! If you want a country that is free you must educate it first. If not, it remains at the hands of demagogues and tyrants, a theocratic society where true freedom remains an elusive concept.
Reverse Buckley v. Valeo. Speech should mot equate to money and vice versa.
Perhaps I am out of step with how things work, but at this point, I don't think the sale can be stopped. As idiotic and childish as ADHD Musk can be, he either buys it or gets hammered for backing out. HOWEVER, Twitter is only good because people like it. Recreating Twitter on a responsible platform with responsible guidance is not out of the question. THAT is how you nail the guys with too much money who think they own the world.
Let me repeat: Twitter is only a thriving platform when people use it. Those same people can gravitate elsewhere. It's the USERS who make Twitter, not the people with money. KNOW YOUR POWER.
The public should care but currently there is no government involvement in who can purchase a social media company, look at the example of the Murdochs and other right wing extremists who control our airwaves now.
Arguably, besides the SEC, the FTC has jurisdiction under Section 5(a) of the FTC Act as well as the Clayton Act..
https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws
Elon Musk is a genius industrialist… as well as a total idiot when it comes to people—and thus politics (he is not the only one of his kind in modern history). When he said he was making his bid to acquire Twitter for the cause of “free speech,” it dawned on me what kind of a crackpot he is. That prompted me to write a post on the matter. I did not publish it, eventually, because its format did not fit with my website’s editorial line. I am pleased to reproduce it below because I still think it can somehow serve as a wake-up call to many American minds, not just Elon's. The post was titled “Making Sense.” Here it is:
We are all in favor of free speech. Yet, this does not mean much if “speech” is seen as throwing words in the air and expecting that they will somehow make sense when falling back down. The ability to freely speak your mind is indeed a cornerstone of democracy, but it is not enough for democracy to exist if your mind is empty. Freedom, like knowledge, is built. We are not free when spewing nonsense; we are merely jailing ourselves in our own ignorance.
Most people, unfortunately, refer by default to “freedom of speech” and miss the deeper meaning of the phrase. Hitler was making “speeches” only in the material sense of the word when eructing demented rage and hatred against Jews. Speech is when you seek coherence and relevance, and your discourse is articulated enough to be submitted to the critical judgment of others. We should always be able to tell the difference if we want to live in a free society.
There is no doubt that we all have a fundamental right to say whatever we want, whenever we want to. But this is the condition of freedom, not freedom itself. Freedom is when you think. What we ask for through freedom of speech is, in that sense, the practical ability to reflect and debate as far as we wish, not a license to fall into the seduction of irresponsibility. If the saying “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” shines as the principle to hold on to, this is precisely because it refers to an instance where there is room enough for confrontation. Debating is creating each and everyone’s space for freedom. I will give my life for your right to defend your ideas because my dignity resides in accepting to have my own ideas challenged with the tools of reason. I will not give my life for the pseudo right of a mob and demagogues to yell slogans they refuse to make sense of and to deny others the right to exist.
Self-proclaimed “free speech absolutists” have a Hitler problem. They are chagrined at the thought of freedom being limited, not realizing that they could quickly find solace by making the effort to define what they are talking about. They would discover, then, that conflating the right to say anything that crosses our mind with the nature itself of freedom is effectively defending stupidity’s dictatorship. Banning Trump from Twitter is not infringing upon his freedom of speech; he morally and intellectually banned himself from the public arena of speech and debate by being a hatemonger.
The call to logic and reason is what defines democracy, not an empty claim to “freedom” that, more often than not, results in denying others their own rights (think native Americans under pioneers’ freedom, or LGBTQ people confronted with so-called religious freedom today). So, yes, let’s make sense and dare to educate each other, however harshly sometimes, through genuine debates. Let’s make freedom of speech worth its salt!
the laws of freedom of speech and the phrase itself are used in ways as a cudgel to accomplish quite the opposite. somebody should lay all that out in a nice two volume set,but it taxes my brain too much at the moment to start on that.
The only restraint on people like Musk and Trump is defamation law. Neither have any self control so litigation is inevitable.
I think you are exactly right. This is what Jason Stanley argues in his book "How Fascism Works."
Discrimination against people with Asperger's?
Strengths can include:
-Remarkable focus and persistence
-Aptitude for recognizing patterns
-Attention to detail
Challenges can include:
-Hypersensitivities (to lights, sounds, tastes, etc.)
-Difficulty with the give and take of conversation
-Difficulty with nonverbal conversation skills (distance, loudness, tone, etc.)
-Uncoordinated movements, or clumsiness
-Anxiety and depression
The tendencies described above vary widely among people. Many learn to overcome their challenges by building on strengths.
Though the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome is no longer used, many previously diagnosed people still identify strongly and positively with being an “Aspie.”
We can all just stop using Twitter. I stopped years ago. It’s a waste of time.
Suppose Musk buys Twitter and lets Trump back on. People know Trump well enough by now to have settled opinions about whether or not he's worth listening to, so hopefully it will make little difference in reality, and the Democrats will win a crushing victory in November!
Trump is dangerous as is; give him twitter access again, and I fear there will be no stopping him.
NYT: "Perhaps the easiest prediction to make about Mr. Musk’s Twitter takeover is that it will make him an even bigger celebrity."
At one point after Trump's expectations were diminished. Trump was miffed when Musk announced he is a DeSantis fan, Even though Trump initially praised the Musk-Twitter deal, in mid-May he posted on Truth Social, “There is no way Elon Musk is going to buy Twitter at such a ridiculous price, especially since realizing it is a company largely based on BOTS of Spam Accounts. Fake anyone?”
"So when Musk’s agreement with Twitter finally fell apart, Trump was eager to do some gloating and settle some political grievances. At a July 9 rally in Anchorage, Alaska, for Republicans Sarah Palin and Governor Mike Dunleavy, he claimed he had predicted the deal wouldn’t happen and accused Musk of lying about voting for him in 2016."
“He said the other day, ‘Oh, I’ve never voted for a Republican.’ I said, ‘I didn’t know that,’” Trump said. “He told me he voted for me, so he’s another bullshit artist.”
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-elon-musk-feud-history.html
"Mr. Musk is, of course, already one of the most well known people in the world. But until now, his power has largely been a function of his extreme wealth and the size of his online following. He could get in flame wars, make crude jokes about senators or threaten to move his companies out of California, and all of this mattered a great deal to the people involved — but it was all ultimately soft power that was contingent on Twitter’s willingness to let him keep throwing bombs at his 108 million followers, and the public’s willingness to keep paying attention."
"Owning Twitter is different. If the deal closes, Mr. Musk will have direct control over one of the world’s largest megaphones, and will be able to use it entirely as he sees fit — whether that’s to turn it into a lawless free-for-all, take revenge on his political enemies, promote his own business ventures or do something else entirely. And given Mr. Musk’s penchant for seizing the spotlight, we can expect that whatever he chooses to do with Twitter, it won’t be boring."
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/05/technology/elon-musk-twitter-predictions.html
Report Trump for EVERY tweet he makes, providing Musk retains that feature. If enough users do this Twitter will be inundated with reports and will most likely have to do something about it.
Nobody in the United States should have a billion dollars, or even half a billion dollars. Corporate Capitalism is returning us to the wealth distribution of Europe in the Middle Ages. It is a highway to class war and ubiquitous violent anarchy. We MUST return to the tax schedule under Eisenhower, the last good Republican President, when the top tax bracket paid 91%, and not one of them had to divest himself of a second mansion, yacht, or mistress to pay taxes. Uncontrolled Corporate capitalism and Democracy are mutually exclusive. Who said "Sell all you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven?" You cannot be both a Judeo-Christian and a corporate capitalist oligarch. These ALEC and Club for Growth predators are carpetbaggers who, for the most part, cannot claim even one ancestor who was here for the heavy lifting that established our Democratic Republic. Regulate them back into the middle class with stringent tax laws, or deport them.
As always, Dr. Reich's Office Hours question is a difficult one but one we should all think about even if Elon Musk thinks about it as little as possible. My response, Musk buying Twitter matters because the social media platform has become so large and so many people use it as a primary means of communication with others. People do business over Twitter, make important decisions on it, and do quick, but important connecting. Let's face it, Elon Musk is a child-man who never had to grow up. He acts like an 8-year-old who makes an impulsive move, then wants out, then back in, then out because it isn't going to give him all the pleasure he anticipated, then in again, probably because his friends agreed to support him and on and on. Musk cares nothing about Twitter beyond what he can get from it. The folks who use it are just bugs to be ignored as long as they stay out of the range of his shoe. He claims to want Trump "back on" but will not take responsibility for the insurgency Trump is growing. Musk wants the thing but not the responsibility. He doesn't even want the responsibility for paying for it. He would be happy if someone or a group of someones were to gift Twitter to him so he can say he owns it and paid nothing. What I don't understand is why the Twitter "owners" want to sell in the first place. Clearly Twitter is doing well enough. It is not making them a fortune but they are doing OK. Now, they have even bigger dollar signs in their eyes as the child-man Musk is now back on board with an outrageous price for Twitter. It is all just plain nuts, just another male operation to keep attention on themselves so they can get even bigger attention later. It's disgusting, but we the people permit it. The SEC or Congress should deny the sale on the grounds of national security and as an anti-trust decision. No one person should have as much wealth and power as Elon Musk. That would solve the problem.
Smart and sensible take on this, Ruth Sheets 🌻
There are so many examples (Murdoch, Berlusconi , Springer) of the effects of a high profile billionaire or a group of them owning an important media tool...they just use it to make a lots more money and for promoting their often conservative and sometimes pure fascist political views to the world and support the related political organisations from their profits with funding .... This is what I believe will happen with Twitter....and I don't think one can stop it in a democracy so no other option than to counteract it with stronger counter propaganda. I myself where will use my freedom of choice to listen to and read what I want to read and want to listen to and have conversations with people I want to have conversations with. In practise I will likely sign off Twitter, like I am ignoring many other media (eg Fox news). You will get the essence of all the BS they produce anyway but then second hand which is far less stressful and you can make a choice of what BS you want to study a bit more deeper.....and it keeps all the hatred far away form you......
"Rosebud!"
My all time favorite expression, “Dumb as a Bar of Soap”! I’m going with a bar of soap! I’m going with Elon being that bar of soap! Twitter has got to be over no doubt. Why immerse yourself with bar’s of soap? It’s not a good look…debating a bar of soap! So with that I proclaim, the only thing one can expect from a bar of soap is that it’s just that…a bar of soap!