It is not hard to imagine that Musk WANTS to concentrate hateful, xenophobic, sexist, paranoid and anti-democratic voices on his platform. Perhaps he thinks the financial losses are "worth it" to get the kind of amplification sought by the oligarchic class? It puts up a quandary to regular folks - try to use the platform to participate in community building? Or get off the thing as a way to dis-incentivize advertisers and other innocent users? Vote with your "feet" and get the hell off of "X".
To sell more of his cars, he's lowered the price. He was able to do so by removing a number of safety precautions on his purported "self-driving" program. I wouldn't trust one of his cars.
During my extensive educational process, I endeavored to become familiar with the skills associated with the trade of "Drafting." If I remember correctly I was about 15 years old and in junior high school when I took on this opportunity to broaden my artistic horizons. The teacher seemed to be fixated on one of the points he was trying to teach us. The idea of vanishing points and perspective. Without these defining elements, drawings would be little more than flat depictions of images with no visual depth of field to them. The idea of perspective goes beyond pencil, paper, and T-squares. it's an understanding of where we are with respect to life itself. A person that is said to have lost their perspective is much like a sailboat that has lost its rudder. Splashing about in the pool of life Trump is in need of assistance when it comes to all things human. Donnie doesn't understand perspective because his mind is locked in a two-dimensional version of our world. He can't imagine our reality because we exist beyond his vanishing point. Restricted by his dimensional thinking Trump isn't concerned with the truth, it's an obstacle that simply just gets in his way. From our perspective, Trump is the type of person that represents a real danger to our way of life. Basically, because he sees what we are as being insignificant. We have perspective and Trump doesn't, two opposing views of life that can never coexist. It's almost as if our political system has taken human form.
I don't think I could ever fully trust a "self-driving" car to do my driving for me. However, as a backup to my imperfect driving (such as hitting the brakes to avoid a collision that I don't see coming), the systems are great.
I already trust one of his cars. It's a Tesla 3 and it's a wonderful car. Someone clipped us on the highway at about 70 mph and the car didn't even alter course. It drives beautifully. Of course there are downsides. There are downsides to almost everything. P.S. I wouldn't trust self driving either.
It's not enough for ordinary folks like us to "get the hell off 'X'. " Writers on Substack and other platforms need to stop linking to tweets, or whatever they're now called. Sadly, some of my favorite newsletters here consistently include memes and tweets that can only be viewed by going to the despicable X site.
We need to respectfully comment about this whenever we see it, and ask that the writers please refrain from supporting this hate-speech source. No one can credibly deny their knowledge of X's pernicious nature any more.
Agreed, I'd be satisfied to see Substack writers snub twitter. If people use twitter it's a nod to the hate, a nod to child abuse-the list goes on.... The prospect of Musk's suit is super concerning on every level. I'm happy non profits placed a spotlight on what's happening on Twitter. Turn off the light, quit Twitter, and don't entertain Musk's platform tantrum. But....will Robert Reich need to start a go fund me to save the valuable non profits Musk will be attacking?
There are a lot of Teslas on the road here in the NE...this is a good thing, whatever we feel about Musk. Tesla inspired other EVs to catch up and be better if they can, lower the price, get more on the road. We should use other means of dealing with Musk that do not shoot ourselves in the foot.
@ Veronica. One thing we learn in economics is the rule of substitution. When eggs get too expensive we make pancakes. (dumb example!) But yeah, plenty of EV makers trying to get Tesla's share of the market. Most folks don't know that the first electric car at Tesla was not conceived by Musk - he bought into a pre-existing innovation, though he admittedly took it mainstream. From Wikipedia: "The [electric car] production idea was conceived by [Martin] Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning who incorporated Tesla Motors in Delaware on July 1, 2003." Musk joined in 2004.
Like everything else he's done, taken someone else's ideas and inventions and pretended he is responsible. Space X simply used rockets already designed and in use for many years, by NASA, had his engineers tweak them to return to earth reusable (to save money) then take personal credit.
Fay, I've heard that Mark Zuckerberg did much the same thing when he (& college cohorts) "invented" Facebook. But he took the idea - and ran with it to - become - Facebook. + it was alleged that there was 'petty crime' involved. Either way, I do not and will not make use
of either of those (allegedly) Social Media & because of the eggregiousness of their 'founders' - toward membership or content.
Hate is hate, no matter from what source (augmented by jealousy & envy ~ ). And - it's - all about the money - - - -
The question is can the world survive... Another question for you is do you need to hate Musk so much that you would not buy a Tesla? Nor benefit from anything positive having to do with SpaceX (if you knew about it)? Twitter can be skipped for sure... but a lot of people need it to give and receive information.
Musk owns 13.04% of Tesla
"How much of Tesla is owned by investors?
Tesla is a stock of the people. About 44% of the shares available for trading, not held by insiders, are owned by retail investors. That's high for a stock the size of Tesla. The average retail holding for the FAANG stocks, plus Microsoft, is about 18%.Mar 2, 2023
Who Owns Tesla Stock? A Lot of Ordinary Investors. - Barron's
Potter, you are right about EVs. Musk didn't invent the EVor even the Tesla. He did invest in it and push it, but that is what he does. That makes him a rich man, not an inventor.
Not only that, he is worth $248 Billion . Do you think he has returned some of that in taxes and benefit- that it was a good investment for the government in the name of the common good? I do. We have a successful electric car out front, risking at first, that has given incentive for other car makers. The Common Good has gained. Twitter is another matter to settle. I hope it will be. It should be regulated and or a utility or something-- like the phone. But the solution is above my pay grade. Maybe Musk hate will cause Twitter to fail and other venues will rise. Jury out.
Making money is not a trait of character, it's an ability though. I meant that he pays taxes ( or should) on what he has earned. That is returning money to the government for its investment. His worth is $248 billion, which is not his earnings. He has also made wealth for others. That's a part response to what he owes the "common good". Include his tax dollars. Also that he enabled or formed a company that produced an electric car and inspired other car makers to do so and some to buy even at a high price is a common good, perhaps more so. He was a star for awhile until he started making foolish statements and then bought Twitter and is probably destroying it. I do not like him, but why hate him so much as to deny the contributions?
Wow Clarence, that was pretty rude! "you idiots, deep state" (nonsense). Is that your MO? Musk has a lot of despicable things going, it is just who he is. I need to see evidence that the government is supporting him and his Twitter-X BS.
Best move you ever made! Now if the rest of the Muskrat's newly formed generation [X'ers] would follow suit, to bury this POS as close to the center of the earth as possible, where it's nice and hot, we'd be golden!
How do you feel about living in high(er) density neighborhoods? How do you feel about >completely< changing your "way of life?" How do you feel about nuclear power plants?
As you can probably surmise, I have come to have a healthy skepticism about what good will come of replacing internal combustion engines with electric motors in the same kind of vehicular transportation that can arguably shown as only a symptom the >real< problem in the first place - excess population, which concentrates in urban and suburban environments, and what to do about it. That's a >really< scary question that carries within it the seeds of >extremely dark< solutions.
I'm thinking that in order to have >any< chance of bringing climate change under control, we must start with city design. Of course, that completely side-steps the question of >overpopulation< in the first place. But you've probably noticed none of that has >anything< to do with what kind of motor you have running your car. On the other hand, it directly attacks the question of why you should be addicted to such personal transportation in the first place.
BTW: I don't give a phiddler's phuc about Teslas or the values of a natural born white, South African bigot who is personally not worth the paper his US naturalization is printed on, who's a'hustlin' them. Whereas I don't think striving to develop a credible, environmentally safe, and sustainable source of energy is a scam, I don't think what's currently being offered - or hustled, if you will - will do credibly much to remedy the >real< problem that drives the increasingly apparent climate change we currently face. It's a little like a hard-liquor addict switching to beer in the name of recovering from alcoholism.
DZK, you raise a valid point. We have personal cars ourselves. Why? Public transport where we live is spare to nonexistent. On the routes it does run, the frequency is low enough that you must plan your day around bus arrivals to make it work. It seems that outside of a few major cities in the USA, mass transit is an afterthought. Where it does exist, it has hardly any budget and runs infrequently with spotty coverage.
We went to Italy a few years ago to take an anniversary cruise. We hired a car just for us to take us back to the airport after we returned. A couple from the UK we met on the cruise opted for the public train. They beat us to the airport by at least a half hour, if not more. Building our nation's transportation infrastructure around the personal automobile was extremely shortsighted. Now we have sprawling tendrils to disparate settlement that make personal vehicles a necessity. Unless more of us move to city centers, or micromanaging supervisors accept that most employees are effective WFH, this trade of emissions pollution to resource exploitation to "go green" persists.
This ain't a modern European innovation. In 1975 I backpacked to India from Luxembourg. Got a train to Assisi (it was a pilgrimage) Got off at Milano and discovered it was a HUGE city and no cheap hostel in sight. Went back into the terminal & got another train going south. Did the same in Florence and got another train going south to Assisi, which was still as quaint as the time of St. Francis.
The point is at that time in the U.S. there was only one train a day making long trips across the country. I would have been stranded in the train stations for a couple of days here.
Rob, you're not wrong at all. To bolster your point, the station closest to the ships in that port city, Civitavecchia, was clearly there from WAY before I was born. The train wasn't a Bullet or TGV either. No matter. It beat the pants off the late model, direct-injected diesel Benz our driver was piloting by at least a half hour. He was channeling his inner-Andretti too.
Sometimes we get things right in the USA. In my estimation, we score an incomplete on transit.
I fail to see what or how your and other travel experiences way back when apply. Way back then and over there there was and is a world of difference and a different world that developed in a different way and had a different worldview religiously and economically.
We need public transportation badly, especially fast trains. But this is not happening or in some cases possible, topographically or politically. The climate issue is urgent and we have to get off of fossil fuels asap. WE should also get off of using most of the plastic that we use. Conservation too is very important. Let a thousand flowers bloom.
I had not heard of this before. Thank you. Hemp is also a crop that does not require environmentally destructive pesticides and herbicides. If grown with regenerative farming techniques it could also help soil captures greater amounts of CO2 and help fight climate change that way.
@DZK. This is a perplexing post. All talking points (and authors) sponsored by big oil/energy firms. What ever bit of valid concerns are expressed (which there are answers for) the overall effect is to sow confusion and undermine efforts to green up our transportation economy. Why, you ask, should one be addicted to personal transportation? That's a question for philosophers. The economics question is how to sustainably meet demand for transportation in a manner that does not destroy human habitability on this planet.
That's why I tried to break the problem down to its atomic level - no pun intended. The problem arises as a function of how we live as a society, that you seem to believe is a question for philosophers. It all involves a burgeoning population, where to put them, and how best to serve them - and I agree it's a perplexing problem, given how it evolved in the first place. Energy is >definitely< a pressing issue - along with the vehicles that use it, which I consider a symptom. But, I don't think you can fix the problem without attacking that which drives it all. In short, like ol' Tweety, the energy issue itself is a symptom. It's not the problem that most urgently needs addressed.
@DZK. The Chinese tried birth control - they are now backpedaling like crazy trying to increase their birth rate. The problem you are addressing (but not saying out loud) is un-regulated capitalism, and that my friend is a self-replicating monster. Only government by the people has ever produced any moderation in the capitalistic crusade.
BTW: Mr Stockton, I listed the "talking points" as a descriptor for what the videos discuss in detail. I tried to list them in a way that shows the premises upon which I base my conclusion. But it involves focusing on the video content - not the talking points.
ABOUT THE CITY PLANNING!! Yes, planners and sociologists know about these things. The little corner store in a residential neighborhood, the local post office, the library, and even local neighborhood schools — not to meniton streets with shops on street level and apartments above. These are all “social engineering” aspects that help to tie communities together, make for far more congenial living, cut down on the anomie of life in a community, and even reduce things like vandalism by giving people [and kids] a sense of being IN a community instead of just living in a house someplace.
Small towns … I live in Vermont. When we lose a country store {most towns had their own}, it is a HUGE factor in people losing touch with each other, and in diminishing their sense of community. But people don’t earn a living wage and the country store can’t compete for dollars, so we’re losing them.
City planners know that rigid residential planning is “sprawl,” and contributes to more roads and cost of infrastructure, and uses up open land, and costs more to patrol, and fight fires, and build schools, isolates us from the people, from others who vote on our schools and taxes, so we have less shared sense of …and …and …
American city planners know all this stuff. And have known it since I started covering Planning Board Meetings in the 1970s and reading books on livable neighborhoods that were written decades before that. But they still zone for sprawl.
And they you get SOME people who disparage the social engineering aspect of town and city planning.. .
My quick look at the above selection of videos suggest to me that the biggest arguments saying Green is not as Green as we’d like it to be are that the technology is not “there” yet. Not that it could not be, but it isn’t.
If we’d been about it for a longer time, we’d be further along to being low carbon AND high output AND more efficient in storage and delivery of energy. We’d be more Green.
It seemed that the arguments above {those I sampled} did notsay Green has a larger carbon footprint that fossil, overall. Just that it’s still annoying and inconvenient.
Humph.
{… and for SURE, I’d be so happy if the US had invested in mass transit far more than it has …way far more!!!}
Y'mean you think I'm suggesting there's no "magic bullet?" Then for all intent, you are correct. Look a little deeper, though. For example, pay attention to the "break even" point. Also, consider the rare-earths involved. And don't forget about how the electricity is generated, how it's transmitted, and line loads for charging the vehicles. Just sayin'.
Nowhere am I saying we shouldn't take what measures we reasonably can. What I am saying is that we should reassess what the >real< problem actually is. We can get no farther than how we address that real problem.
Pretty much. For sure, identifying the problem is at least half of how we figure out how to solve it. Yeah, we depend on individual ways of life far too much. Communal and shared is just not our “thing.” Not in housing, not in travel, not in much of anything.
I’m saying all those technologies you mention are current state of what we know — we should be way past them by now …Look at the damned article about hemp — hey is that real, or an ONION article? Who knows about that stuff, and why didn’t we know a long time ago?
I’m, suggesting we haven’t been working on solutions to warming nearly long enough. The stuff you mention should already be in our rearview mirror, but it’s not.
And scientists knew this was coming for generations … But we twiddled our thumbs and fought over access to billons of dollars in oil, coal, and gas markets, and waited until the last minute to stop changing our planet’s entire climate. [And folks who think that’s just the air had better realize we warmed the oceans, too.}
You want us to have better identified the crux of the problem. I want us to have started a lot sooner —You are in a better position to get your point addressed than mine. I hope we still HAVE enough time to develop the technologies we need, whichever way we decide to use them.
I am not "addicted" to personal transportation. I need it to live, to get where I have to go. There is no other way. As well we all have finite time to live. Time getting to and from places using available transportation is magnified without a car. This eats up your life... especially if you have to get to a Dr. or in an emergency.
I do not think your skepticism is healthy at all. We need to get off of fossil fuels ASAP. Driving an EV is a way to help the situation... not a solution. Nobody I know is saying that it is a solution.
As well, beware of what you ingest that is promoted by fossil fuel interests in terms of your doubts about electric cars. It may be possible to fuel our cars with a non-carbon based fuel that is sustainable, but that, like electric vehicles will take time and energy itself. (Hydrogen powered cars in California?) In the meantime- we are being credibly told that using EV's help the near environmental crisis when you replace your FF car. ( I still have a FF car but measure my trips out- I don't use a car every day.)
People that have planted their lives out in the suburbs, the exurbs, the farmlands and rural areas are not going to move to the city, nor can the cities accommodate them. This is no answer. What will happen if the planet stays viable and grows will be new cities.... but not fast enough.
Yes have less children, smaller homes. (Attention to birth control and abortion rights!) But you are touching the "American Dream". People want a family land and nature/a garden. This is what people everywhere seek! Yes to more public mass transportation long distances. Good luck with city design unless it's a new city.
Smart folks like you should get a horse or go for an EV in the meantime and not overthink this into unreality. We will get a EV to replace our FFs.
Like I said: addicted. So am I. Maybe I'm not virtue signaling here. Maybe I'm not justifying fossil fuels. Maybe I'm not saying you shouldn't drive electric cars. Maybe I'm not saying we shouldn't pursue more sustainable energy. Maybe I'm not insinuating a single thing you seem to think I'm suggesting. Maybe, you've just plain missed the point. Maybe what I'm really saying is that just about everyone oversimplifies the problem, and nothing I've mentioned can fix the problem in the foreseeable future. So go ahead and drive whatever car >you can afford<, go ahead and live where >you can afford<, and know "the American dream" was always a PR marketing hoax conducted by the very people who want to make sure things remain the way they are.
I am responding to your declaration of skepticism about electric cars and then laying out of solutions that are not forthcoming or not realistic. I think I got what you are saying.
You know that the first years of Hitler's rule were exactly what the Germans needed at the time. Although I would not compare Musk with Hitler I am simply making the point that when people get too big of themselves, their egos move into the passing lane and they actually think that they can do anything and are not answerable to anybody. Well they are. Aside from the fact that this kind of issue is rooted in insecurity, at some point and just like a balloon, overblown egos usually blow themselves up, an affliction that I see as being eerily similar to one being carried by someone else (no names mentioned). Some people leave a legacy that is to be respected and others manage to poison theirs.
Trump got too big because people were enthralled by him for years, including the media. They were amused and overlooked how much of a threat he has always been, a bad seed grown, a faux charmer, a petty criminal. The money kept flowing- too easily. So he became a star, with pretty women he could afford to marry and then some. And this encouraged him to go further to the presidency, really endangering this country. There were and are enough vulnerable people out here that went for the con. That's a better fit for Hitler, Putin is more of a fit. Musk was put on a pedestal until he fell off- he could not quite make the heights, except with SpaceX. This is a feature of capitalism. We suffer from it. WE have a line up of such people ready to take their place. The audience is at fault too, the enablers.
Honestly I don't really agree with you. I understand what you're trying to say very well. But I feel you're coming from fear. It's like when the school bully comes around all the kids in the schoolyard run to the other side of the playground. That's totally coming from fear. I think we can do better than that.
I don't think you do understand what I am trying to say. Near as I can tell your response is to me saying we should use other means to deal with Elon Musk other than shooting ourselves in the foot by not buying his electric vehicle because we hate him. That is fear? I don't feel bullied into buying a Tesla. I don't understand you comment or analogy. There is opposition to buying a Tesla here and it's either about hate of Musk - essentially because of Twitter issues. I do not disagree that he worthy of this hate. Another comment is about skepticism of electric vehicles altogether. (I responded to that).
I'm on the old side, with human systems failing. I like the safety features. I believe that with enough sensors, and enough computer brains that self driving cars will eventually be far better than mere human drivers.
On the other hand, I don't want to drive a computer. I don't like too many features. I absolutely hate the need to learn how to use these features by trial and error. It used to be sufficient to speed up, slow down, and steer. Back when I was an engineer, things had to be documentated, but that practice has dissappered with the advent of programmers. It might have something to do with the business trying to protect trade secrets - I don't want to blame creative programmers when stinking money grabbers are there to blame instead.
I understand. Our son/daughterinlaw have a Tesla and we had a chance to ride and drive one. Not to be feared was the decision. But different, yes. I am not young. I imagine older people will be ending their driving careers sooner than later.. and it's a challenge and can bring fear to learn something new especially when you know your senses and reaction time is not what it was. The car might be able to see what you did not see coming though. It's a matter of your ability and will to learn something new and being attached to the old way of driving. I understand the "self driving" is an add on. Generally the review in this family has been very positive...and no love for Musk here.. a lot of hesitation and weighing took place before the purchase.
PS I learned on a stick shift-- probably still could use one.
My oldest son and wife both have model 3's, and like them. My youngest son works for Tesla in field service of charging networks. They let him use one after another to field test them on-the-job. They have lots of bells and whistles, that I could do without. Myself and wife have an old i-MiEV, plus a Kia Niro. They both work well. But the Kia is plagued with awkward software controls.
Simply put, fuck Elon musk. I am worn out, where did these despicable pieces of shit that have all this money come from? I have been following these degenerates ever since Trump Was first elected. I am approaching the end of the fourth quarter and it is not how I thought I would spend my so-called golden years. I am thankful that Michigan is now a totally democratic state. And we’re trying to get rid of The Republican slime as fast as we can. It’s more important to me to live in a state with the liberal governor and Congress, then to worry about Washington, and the Republican scum that lives there.
Gary, the problem is there are many of us (the rest of us) who live in the Southeastern US, coming from “Sweet Home Alabama” (God help anyone in Tuberville’s turf, although someone had to vote to elect that fool) now residing and stuck in SC ( yup, watching the performantive antics of two-faced Lindsey Graham) who cannot for many reasons relocate as much as we would like to. Remember Thomas Wolf who wrote “You Can’t Go Home Again” to Alabama where I was so very happy because it is not the place you left behind. So I spend my not golden years in a place I really detest; that makes me very unhappy. As an example, I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday in an office with few people as expected and happily wore a tee shirt emblazoned with Obama and Biden jogging through the halls of the White House. I received lots of giggles about my courage to do so and warnings to be careful where I went from there as it is DANGEROUS to exhibit openly one’s ideals in this blood red state. I would never have gone anywhere else in such attire as I am too fragile to defend myself but yesterday, and after reading the news of the day, I am happily sitting at home enjoying the art work on my favorite tee on the day after Trump was indicted and the day before he goes before the judge! 😊❤️🇺🇸🌎🕊️🎶🍾💃🏼
Judith, as Neil Diamond would say “except for the names, and a few other changes, you can talk about me,The story is the same one”.It seems to me that the Trump sycophants think they’re the only ones out in the sticks That feel they are true patriots. I know there are a lot of good folks all over the country who have to the live around this stupidity and ignorance. If this country doesn’t straighten up It’s act real soon, we will all be looking for a state to move to (not on what the weather is like)but where the kindred spirits are. Michigan got rid of the partisan gerrymandering problem in a referendum two years ago. And look what happened ,complete control by Democrats for the first time in almost 50 years. Hallelujah. Let’s all hang in there.
Ironically, I just heard that song yesterday, over the supermarket's system, in this (again, supposedly) bright blue area of Joyzee.
I was amazed that they would even choose to put that one into the mix/rotation of songs, at all, given the current 'political climate' in this land.
And YES, I know about the whole Neil Young and Ronnie VZ 'kiss and make up' thing, and yes, that the Skynard band members were mostly left leaning Dem types as well (just like the Allmans.
But it has sort of become an anthem for the "Hell no, we ain't never forgot!" peckerwood types, not just below the Mason-Dixon line, but everywhere.
Same here living in (supposedly, but sometimes I wonder) bright blue Joyzee.
SCUMp, and his Q'aNAZI brownshirt worshipers, and all of the supporting, sycophantic, fascist PsOS in both houses of Congress have shortened my already getting too short (chronologically) life due to all of the existential/total loss of all rights worry and angst which they take sadistic glee in making me suffer through in my 'golden years'.
This is even BEFORE they make sure that I have to fret and sweat out EVERY election, worrying that they will gain a majority (and then maybe the POTUS to sign it) in order to accomplish their ongoing and incessant wet dream of obliterating (EARNED BENEFITS which I have PAID INTO my WHOLE WORKING LIFE!) Social Security and Medicare, without which I am out on the streets and dead. (NOT an wealthy Tesla buyer/owner here! )
We feel exactly like you do. The last eight years of living in northern Michigan has turned into a nightmare. Neither one of us will live long enough to see this national disgrace end. Maybe my grand children will, or maybe not. There is so much more racial hatred Out there than I ever imagined.
Tesla is being sited for secretly using software to overstate the milage range on each cars battery until it reaches a certain %...then correcting the milage reading so the driver doesn't inadvertently get stranded. i.e.lying to make the driver think their car gets more miles per charge than initially indicated. GUESS WHO ORDERED THE INSTALLATION OF THAT SOFTWARE!! https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-batteries-range/
Anti-democratic is right. I recall Dave Troy's article in October 22 stating that Musk's goal in purchasing Twitter was not really to make money, but to control the information space and reshape the global world order. Musk is aligned with Putin in desiring a "multipolar world order." Musk is antidemocratic, believing advances in society are made through "technocracy" and at best democracy should be managed by smart people like Musk and his "technical managers" (eerily similar to Putin's "methodologists"). According to Troy, Musk would ultimately like to replace the dollar with cryptocurrency and government with an app! Also, Musk's "longtermism" is about humanity's future in space--hence his disregard for social, climate, and political ills here and now. Troy is a tech entrepreneur, disinformation specialist and investigative journalist who shares the same tech world as Musk, Dorsey, and their supporters. Here is a link to the article if you are so inclined: https://davetroy.medium.com/no-elon-and-jack-are-not-competitors-theyre-collaborating-3e88cde5267d
I don't believe these wealthy tech people have much of a soul and I don't think they like people or other living beings. There is an emotional disconnect. The idea that life exists in a techno bubble that should encompass us all is repugnant. I don't like them and we had best figure out how to deflate them sooner rather than later.
They're all frustrated gamers that were a natural for that anti-social venue!
Social Networking is the bane of society's woes. We went from communal discourse vis a vis socializing in person, to hoarding the "likes" of strangers via high tech or as I affectionately refer to it as, "High Dreck!"
I think you’re right. I keep thinking back to Rivera Sun’s book of speculative fiction, The Dandelion Insurrection , as well as the film, Don’t Look Up.
I couldn't agree more, Susan. The autocratic tendencies of Musk and his ilk appear to be about maximizing profits but in truth are about mind control via poisonous ad campaigns, relentless, insidious marketing and hate memes that will gradually erode our will to doubt, question and ultimately act against them. The Biden administration has little time left to accomplish great good and democracy might only survive if they nationalize the mega fortunes of people like Musk and redistribute them in the national interest and infrastructure. The scale of power must be rebalanced if democracy is to survive and we are to retain our autonomy.
The rate at which we are ruining Earth far surpasses the technology needed to relocate. We need to fix what used to be liveable. If Musk wants to leave, I say go for it.
Celia, great assessment of who Musk is and what he wants. Above all, he wants money and power which lets him fit very well with the current Republican party that has the same top two. He thinks he is a genius and a lot of people agree, unfortunately. He has delusions of grandeur. He has not a drop of humanity and wants power with no checks, you know, like a toddler. We all need to be the adults in the room and tell him "no," for a change, and send him for a nap.
Anti democratic because they are against in favour of a multipolar world and because crypto against the dollar ?? 😁 come on ... every mogul enters media to have his view point on info put through .. what about Washington post and Bezos ?
Hi, I'm from Denmark, and I try my best to follow wonderful Reich.
I kind of wonder about Musk...what kind of people do he intend to ship to Mars?
The poorest African people? Every single parent in the world? Who comes first in line to flee our polluted planet?
Those who are left behind, will they suffer even more because of the pollution, the space traveling people allow their transportation to spit out over the planet?
Will Musk let the orphaned and (by Russia) kidnapped children of Ukraine go first?
The real discouraging bit of news is that Musk is followed by “148 million people”. And that’s probably just a fraction of those who would get off by his brand of crap. He’s obviously out to get them all.
One obsolete billionaire is worth 1,000,000 "peasants" moneywise. Well, at least for a couple weeks before they realize Earth is OUT of oil AND coal for hundreds of thousands of years!
I will not even try to READ a tweet that is not printed in full in some other venue. I will not contribute one second of my time making it look like I “use” that service. I dumped my account there a couple of years ago, and will never return.
i choose to stay engaged as long as possible on twitter - i refuse to call it 'X' as X is awful on many levels - for two main reasons. (1) twitter will be around in some for for years to come, and (2) their CEO/CIO/CTO will continue to 'report' user numbers that have little basis in reality as they have no way to truly de-duplicate - and it is *against their financial interests* to report the number of verifiable, regular Twitter users. Im sure twitter leaders are already scheming to keep numbers up as good people/real news feeds leave it en masse.
Where are the hateful ? xenophobic ? Paranoid ? Anti democratic ? Contents on X ..? These are judgement calls , start from your inner self , You are just labellig what you dislike ....you are anti democratic and willing to smother dissent
If you're not seeing it you either ignore/avoid those threads or you agree with some of the messages. The HATE is open & Obvious, the lies are harmful & dangerous. It's anti-democratic to accept it.
Sadly, there are places in this land where that will get you shot dead, and then the perpetrator(s) will be not only acquitted, by their fellow MAGA fascists, but lionized and pedestalized for committing the crime.
American Elites Live Under A Different Set Of Laws
They’re not fooling anyone! The American people know that the billionaires can and do get away with crimes that ordinary citizens do not. Why do you think we are so divided as a country? Billionaires and their corporations lobby Congress to get what they want!
The Working Class people who work 8 hours or more hours a day, and 5, 6 or 7 days a week normally do not pay attention to what’s going on in government. They assume that the people they elected are working in a bipartisan manner to help them. With such things as Healthcare, Education, Infrastructure, Inflation, etc….
Instead what are we getting, a bunch of immature and ridiculous politicians who are in lockstep with one of the worst Americans ever! What does it say about our country that this guy was elected president? See paragraph one.
Most people I talk to believe the former president will get away with all the terrible things he has done because he is in the elite ranks! He’s been getting away with bad behavior his entire life. We all know that’s not going to change.
Here is a list of some of the things that got us here. Starting with the most egregious.
My question is why are American people (In the lower classes and lower middle class) so badly educated?
I had my daughter in public school in LA it was disgusting what she didn't learn! So how do small states look....I suspect awful. We left the US 23yrs ago mostly because we could see what was happening + half the population didn't know what was going on and as you say hoped their politicians were working. Not a good way to go.
Don't have much faith that the Americans will do the right thing and turn a little more to the left.
Why? Hatred of raising taxes even those that benefit their children or grandchildren like taxes that buy new equipment or replace aging schools or raise teacher salaries.
Ronald Reagan is to blame as he eviscerated all Federal budgets for Public education and free community college! Reagan ate the middle class, burped and got dementia so he could forget all the evil he created for the people of this country!
Movies can be so enlightening. They can display who we might aspire to be. They can remind us of who we are, what mankind has been and done ... and now the movie industry itself is facing crises at many points!
As school districts get much of their funding from local taxes, the education your kid gets is directly connected with the amount of taxes you pay. Where I live in Al. the town I live in did the same thing the last town I lived in did. They looked at the county schools and decided they could do better if they started their own district. Both times it was a major success. The education standards for our schools are very high, the rate of graduates is great and the help for kids who are struggling is excellent. I don't mind paying more taxes, even though my kids are grown. The ones in school now are the doctors, nurses, lawyers etc. of the future.
@Donald. Nah, that's not relevant to Jennifer's comment. Our "greatest generation" finally did do what was needed to save Democracy in Europe. Thankfully. But the state of education in this country can stand some improvements!
Clarence--Well, I can tell from your eloquent response there is some degree of an educational background at your disposal, somewhere. Now, I find your thought referring to my background in theology a bit tripe. Would you care to rephrase your thought so it makes some degree of sense. Because I have no idea what your insignificant childish mind is talking about.
@Jennifer. The right wing of the Republican party is a strict minority of Americans. They, and their children, tend to be rural, under-educated, under-employed and frustrated at the hollowing-out of the American countryside, a process hastened by the operation of global capital in out-sourcing good jobs to lower labor cost (and lower tax) communities overseas. Those folks know what they are mad about. But they are being exploited, re-directed and financially milked by the very same global capitalists who took away their jobs. It is the mission of the center and left in this country to make it clear to folks what is really happening; to get better laws and rein in the oligarchs we only need to peel off 3% or 4% of the more reasonable people who once upon a time fell for the Trumpian message and get them to give Democrats (not perfect, but better) a shot.
We commonly talk of red vs blue states but the most profound demographic voting divide is urban vs rural. Not only are few well-educated people living in rural areas but their exposure to the "news" is dominantly right-wing networks that scare them daily about the most extreme, harsh realities urbanities are used to living with, plus church pastors who are bribed by dark money to scare-monger about "Demoncrats." All they see is that Trump is a successful billionaire heroically fighting against them and siding with the church pastors to protect the country from urban crime and baby killers.
@Frederick. This is very close to my own views. However, I put a large part of the blame at the feet of the same oligarchs using global capitalism to move good jobs to low labor costs communities overseas. It's really dirty how they use their money to both hollow out the heartland AND to buy off right wing media outlets intent on blaming the problems on all the well-known tropes (immigrants, people of color, non-binary people, woke people and socialists).
"America has the best democracy that money can buy." Gary Younge, former US correspondent for The Guardian (now Prof of Sociology at Univ. of Manchester)
And a focus on just money, instead of VALUE received in return. That is, saying "taxes are too high" rather than looking into where tax money goes, is it furthering community goals and meeting needs, who gets subsidies and why...
Keith, good assessment of the super rich and their ability to manipulate nearly everything to suit themselves. We could stop this. Our problem, among many is that people honor rich people as though they have some kind of magical, almost divine abilities that make them nearly demigods. I would love to find a way to communicate to people that these oligarchs are just humans like all of us, but actually more pathetic because they have decided they are more important than anything else and will make all of us bow to their childish whines and wants, and mostly we do. We need to stop that nonsense and start holding them to the same standards as everyone else. That would be amazing!
Ronald Reagan, Don T. Regan and their economic Master of disaster, Milton Friedman are the Trilogy of domestic economic terrorism! Trickle down econ 101. Starve the beast. Austerity for the people....Corporate Socialism for the billionaires and their 'corpseorations'!
I believe the culture wars are Sykes by these people. I’m in West Yellowstone, Montana for the summer where you meet people from across America and the world. Nobody’s hurling epithets at each other. In fact , I’m getting some great stories and making friends.
Thank you for relaying this disturbing information to us, Professor Reich. I had an inkling but no idea just how horrible Twitter has become. (I do not hold ANY social media accounts.)
4500 satellites! That’s a problem particularly because they are owned by one man, a dangerous one at that.
First of all our planet is surrounded by space junk making it more and more dangerous for legitimate space exploration in the name of science. Even a very small piece of space junk can do considerable damage due to the speed that they travel.
Secondly having a monopoly in internet and voice communications that carry highly sensitive communications should not in the hands of an explosive off the wall billionaire.
Unfortunately the Republicans are against any kind of regulations for industry, they’d rather regulate what individuals can read, what kind of health care and family planning they may have access to and what they can learn. Keep ‘em stupid and quiet.
Elon Musk is not only a bully he’s a dangerous man. His money has bought him the power to do and say whatever he pleases.
Our democracy is quickly becoming an oligarchy. What used to be our safeguard, the Supreme Court
Has over half of the judges in the pockets of the ultra wealthy heads of corporations.
Vote like your democracy depends on it because it truly does.
I concur with everything you say, Susan. I hope you’re wrong about this country becoming an oligarchy. We must prevail in 2024 and keep the likes of the-previous-occupant-of-the-people’s-house nowhere near the White House— he belongs in the Big House.
I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was send some $$ to Biden/Harris.
Susan, you are on the mark with Republicans wanting people to b e ignorant. Republicans foster and encourage ignorance by their support of media like Fox, Twitter-X, and anything that will repeat lies and misinformation over and over, support an ignorant fool for president, and think money makes someone more special and deserving than anyone else. Yep, they also want to keep people from knowing the truth, from learning about how we got where we are, and who is to blame for this money madness and so many people's lack of money. How do we stop it? We need some really innovative ideas for this and a lot of courage.
I ended my Twitter account the day he bought it and never looked back. I wouldn’t drive a Tesla if it was the last car on earth. Musk is n evil man and what he’s doing with the satellites over Ukraine is nothing more than being a traitor. Money...truly the root of all evil....
The article to which you refer reveals the almost incomprehensible magnitude of the now space-industrial-military complex. I am happy to see you refer to it. The answer to this megalomania is complex yet it all boils down to power & money. I do not know how individuals can effectively oppose it in the short term, but resist it we must for the survival of humanity.
I closed my Twitter account more than a month ago. I recommend everyone do the same. With nothing by haters on the service, the advertising will dry up completely. Make Musk eat his 42 Billion folly.
Or videos of horrific animal abuse, since allowed on Elon's hate machine is also evidence of Elon's sociopathy. I'm sure "David" gets off on all the vile hate and cruelty which is why he's defending the evil SOB.
David ; "Just because you can; doesn't mean you should"! unlimited 'freedom' to harm is not actually freedom at all. What goes around comes around. The cesspool that people like Musk is 'creating' will eventually affect him, and his heirs, too.
Well put Elon, but in China, the WeChat app took off because there were no alternatives for communicating with family members, and no banking or online payment system for Chinese people whose parents complained, “You want BOTH a bicycle and a refrigerator?!?”
Your X dream started at PayPal, where your suggestion to rename it “X” was nixed by the other investors.
Now it’s up to us to “Nix the X!”
I used to be active on the old Twitter where it was great for professionals in any field exchanging information about their latest findings. So great. Now 🪶 🪦.
Trump stands over our Democracy like a "Matador " offering the bull his flowing cape. Beneath the flamboyant cloth a rust encrusted sword is held, waiting for the proper moment to impell our society with the shaft that will alter our future. The fatal thrust is preventable but only if our people begin to see Trump for what he really is, a dysfunctional, pathetic man filled with hate and resentment for a country he never understood in the first place.
Donald, interesting metaphor. I would add to your description of Baby Donnie "whiney childish toddler behavior regularly demonstrated to all who will notice, and unfortunately so many people choose not to notice." I just can't imagine why anyone would want a child to be president or to own a social media platform, yet a bunch of people do seem to like the idea of having toddlers in charge of important things. Ugh!
First, bullying IS Hate. And fear. Fear that the bully isn't worthy of the respect of others. So the bully acts out to show that he is powerful, "And you better damn well respect me!" It's not surprising that bullies grow up to be violent, hateful people. After all they had that long apprenticeship demonstrating cause-and-effect: Give me what I want, or else!
Second of all, isn't the entire conflict one-sided when it comes to EVIDENCE? On the one side, you have a group that has trotted out documentation, surveys, and studies and whatnot to show Musk hasn't been stifling Hate Speech on Twitter. (In fact, it's like he's _encouraging_ it.) And in response, Musk is ranting, "You're telling lies! Take it back or I'll sue!". Okay, Burden of Proof time: Where's Musk's proof to support his assertion? [Sorry, Elon: "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" just doesn't cut it in adult endeavors.]
Yes, Capt. Musk is a toddler who has learned from someone very well just how to bully to cover his own inadequacy. Why do we human beings keep picking such pathetic individuals to be in charge of things. I get it that they bully some people into it, but that does not mean we should succumb to their toddler behavior. We need to be the adults here.
Bullying is a perception, is not mathematics. In your view not adhering to conventional wisdom and standing up for free speech is bullying. If I say that I think that teens that want to change sex should be offered psych help and not medically supported you would rate me as hate speaker your hate stats are bogged
Unconditional "Free speech" automatically includes freedom to bully others. But some bullies reject free speech: because their bullying requires control of the discourse -- and silencing opponents.
I agree that kids with gender dysphoria (with usually up to five comorbidities) desperately need psychological counselling for the usually assorted causes of their GD, not kneejerk prescription of puberty blockers followed by surgery: when 90 - 95% of them would have "grown out of" their GD if allowed to go through puberty.
But the gender ideology cult that brands this view as "transphobia" by "haters", and condemns all counselling as "conversion therapy", and refuses to debate the issues (as their views are not supported by evidence) is simply acting as cults do: in branding all who don't support it as enemies.
A $4.5 billion dollar industry is at stake, supported by institutional capture. All the bullying here -- mainly as misogyny -- comes from those who reject free speech. Their pivotal specialities are capture of language itself, and vilifying and silencing opponents.
Miss Gabriel how do you know all this about the transgender community? Do you have a transgender child that you hate? Psychological counseling is important and it's done in 100% of the cases. Doctors don't just willy-nilly prescribe puberty blockers. just a quick question for you -are you a member of qnone or some sex cult? Maybe you're a member of one of the Christian communities that this hate transgender people? I don't know, but you seem to be such an expert and that worries me. Because most experts like you know very little about the subject matter.
MsGabriel, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. It sounds as though you do not have any kind of real understanding of what you are trying to share. Please become better informed and try again.
David ; So are yours; especially when you are bullied, no doubt. I guess you think it's 'just business'. (The word 'just' is key here). : "hate stats" indeed!
It's time to launch local-global campaigns to boycott Musk's Twitter hate machine. Make it clear to corporate advertisers that they risk losing patronage if they continue to advertise in Xtwitter. Encourage remaining Twitter users to cut them lose. Twitter is unsaveable under Musk.
Musk is the CEO and co-founder of Tesla (TSLA), the electric vehicle company, and the CEO and lead designer of the aerospace company SpaceX. That's where he is most vulnerable.
Thank you for providing such a clear outline of what Trump has done to Twitter. For months now I search 3 accounts I particularly like & block any nasty tweets. I miss out on most of the people I used to connect with on Twitter. Musk has some kind of narcissistic antisocial personality disorder. He wants to be considered brilliant (where's the evidence if money isn't treated as intelligence), wants to shock & outrage people, wants to wield real world power, but also wants to be liked. Nut case.
Elon Musk should come as no surprise to anyone. It would be interesting to hear someone of his age from South Africa who considers themselves an indigenous descendant from the civilizations of that region of Africa. A little bit of googling and Wikipediaing regarding Elon and his family and it becomes a distinct possibility that if it weren’t for the Apartheid-based world, he grew up in and his parents and grandparents as well he would not be where he is today in many aspects of his life. Hello, as in many parts of the world back in the day Europeans set out purposely to find land they could pillage, plunder and worse, manipulate and rule over for the sake of themselves and their descendants. The privilege afforded Elon by his South African roots was only afforded to him by its brutality inflicted on what is now South Africa. One might guess that Elon Must is yet another product of his upbringing. He grew up as the descendant of an occupier. Perhaps his present attitude toward much is based on the false sense of a deranged version of manifest destiny or whatever one wants to call it. Elon to many, represents oppression and manipulation. It should be no surprise to anyone that he is like he is. Suppose Elon Musk considers himself a leader or wants others to see him as something other than what he presently is. In that case, he has to do a lot of soul-searching and reparation work for the millions his misguided mentality keeps perpetrating onto humanity. If only people like Elon Musk could get beyond themselves and see the real potential all that money and power could do towards making the planet a whole lot better, not worse, perhaps stories like today’s Substack read would become a thing of the past.
Elon can play his trump card (sorry but it was such an opportune descriptor) - Star Link - to add special mean-spirited behavior. The world may soon rue the fact that he has that control, given his penchant for spewing hatred.
Re the charges for Twitter API calls, people should develop systems based on direct HTTP access, such as Postman, which bypass the APIs. Such systems would produce archives of structured data, which can be parsed and analyzed. It's not as convenient as API calls, but with a little creativity would still provide valid results.
It is not hard to imagine that Musk WANTS to concentrate hateful, xenophobic, sexist, paranoid and anti-democratic voices on his platform. Perhaps he thinks the financial losses are "worth it" to get the kind of amplification sought by the oligarchic class? It puts up a quandary to regular folks - try to use the platform to participate in community building? Or get off the thing as a way to dis-incentivize advertisers and other innocent users? Vote with your "feet" and get the hell off of "X".
Yes, get the hell off "X" and DON'T BUY HIS CARS! There are plenty of good EVs on the market, and more coming every day.
To sell more of his cars, he's lowered the price. He was able to do so by removing a number of safety precautions on his purported "self-driving" program. I wouldn't trust one of his cars.
During my extensive educational process, I endeavored to become familiar with the skills associated with the trade of "Drafting." If I remember correctly I was about 15 years old and in junior high school when I took on this opportunity to broaden my artistic horizons. The teacher seemed to be fixated on one of the points he was trying to teach us. The idea of vanishing points and perspective. Without these defining elements, drawings would be little more than flat depictions of images with no visual depth of field to them. The idea of perspective goes beyond pencil, paper, and T-squares. it's an understanding of where we are with respect to life itself. A person that is said to have lost their perspective is much like a sailboat that has lost its rudder. Splashing about in the pool of life Trump is in need of assistance when it comes to all things human. Donnie doesn't understand perspective because his mind is locked in a two-dimensional version of our world. He can't imagine our reality because we exist beyond his vanishing point. Restricted by his dimensional thinking Trump isn't concerned with the truth, it's an obstacle that simply just gets in his way. From our perspective, Trump is the type of person that represents a real danger to our way of life. Basically, because he sees what we are as being insignificant. We have perspective and Trump doesn't, two opposing views of life that can never coexist. It's almost as if our political system has taken human form.
I appreciate your point of view and agree. Yet this is about Elon Musk....
Veronica--Hate is hate, whether is smells like the oil of Musk or not.
You got some of that right. The rest is just an angry vitriolic rant and you aren't going to convince anyone of anything by being a dick.
Same seems to be evident with Musk. Filthy money is the only thing that counts.
Susan--The sad thing about Musk, he has so much money he really doesn't know what to do with it.
Susan--Think of all the good he could do with his money working to help so many in need.
He should start by helping to improve the lives of the less fortunate in the country where he lives and also the one where he was
born.
.
He could do so much good for the world in so many ways and project a positive,caring,helpful attitude.
I don't think I could ever fully trust a "self-driving" car to do my driving for me. However, as a backup to my imperfect driving (such as hitting the brakes to avoid a collision that I don't see coming), the systems are great.
The same is true of my Subaru outback.
Your comment does not address the real issues here.
Please tell us more!
Nor would I. Is your car a Tesla? What year?
Never
I already trust one of his cars. It's a Tesla 3 and it's a wonderful car. Someone clipped us on the highway at about 70 mph and the car didn't even alter course. It drives beautifully. Of course there are downsides. There are downsides to almost everything. P.S. I wouldn't trust self driving either.
It's only recently that he's cut back on some safety features.
No it’s called innovation economies of scale learning curves and targeted vertical integration
It's not enough for ordinary folks like us to "get the hell off 'X'. " Writers on Substack and other platforms need to stop linking to tweets, or whatever they're now called. Sadly, some of my favorite newsletters here consistently include memes and tweets that can only be viewed by going to the despicable X site.
We need to respectfully comment about this whenever we see it, and ask that the writers please refrain from supporting this hate-speech source. No one can credibly deny their knowledge of X's pernicious nature any more.
.
Agreed, I'd be satisfied to see Substack writers snub twitter. If people use twitter it's a nod to the hate, a nod to child abuse-the list goes on.... The prospect of Musk's suit is super concerning on every level. I'm happy non profits placed a spotlight on what's happening on Twitter. Turn off the light, quit Twitter, and don't entertain Musk's platform tantrum. But....will Robert Reich need to start a go fund me to save the valuable non profits Musk will be attacking?
There are a lot of Teslas on the road here in the NE...this is a good thing, whatever we feel about Musk. Tesla inspired other EVs to catch up and be better if they can, lower the price, get more on the road. We should use other means of dealing with Musk that do not shoot ourselves in the foot.
I think the world can survive without Tesla.
@ Veronica. One thing we learn in economics is the rule of substitution. When eggs get too expensive we make pancakes. (dumb example!) But yeah, plenty of EV makers trying to get Tesla's share of the market. Most folks don't know that the first electric car at Tesla was not conceived by Musk - he bought into a pre-existing innovation, though he admittedly took it mainstream. From Wikipedia: "The [electric car] production idea was conceived by [Martin] Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning who incorporated Tesla Motors in Delaware on July 1, 2003." Musk joined in 2004.
Like everything else he's done, taken someone else's ideas and inventions and pretended he is responsible. Space X simply used rockets already designed and in use for many years, by NASA, had his engineers tweak them to return to earth reusable (to save money) then take personal credit.
Fay, I've heard that Mark Zuckerberg did much the same thing when he (& college cohorts) "invented" Facebook. But he took the idea - and ran with it to - become - Facebook. + it was alleged that there was 'petty crime' involved. Either way, I do not and will not make use
of either of those (allegedly) Social Media & because of the eggregiousness of their 'founders' - toward membership or content.
Hate is hate, no matter from what source (augmented by jealousy & envy ~ ). And - it's - all about the money - - - -
The question is can the world survive... Another question for you is do you need to hate Musk so much that you would not buy a Tesla? Nor benefit from anything positive having to do with SpaceX (if you knew about it)? Twitter can be skipped for sure... but a lot of people need it to give and receive information.
Musk owns 13.04% of Tesla
"How much of Tesla is owned by investors?
Tesla is a stock of the people. About 44% of the shares available for trading, not held by insiders, are owned by retail investors. That's high for a stock the size of Tesla. The average retail holding for the FAANG stocks, plus Microsoft, is about 18%.Mar 2, 2023
Who Owns Tesla Stock? A Lot of Ordinary Investors. - Barron's
barrons.com"
To answer your question: my hate level now::1 Trump and his deplorables.
2 Putin and all extreme right leaders.
3Musk for his ability to BUY influence.
Yes I am not patronizing ANYTHING WITH HIS NAME ON IT!!
Potter, you are right about EVs. Musk didn't invent the EVor even the Tesla. He did invest in it and push it, but that is what he does. That makes him a rich man, not an inventor.
Yes. Investing in this deserves some credit too.
He did get money from the Federal Government (that would be US) . to develop his business, I have read. He owes something to the Common Good.
While what he's doing now is the Opposite of Common Good.
Not only that, he is worth $248 Billion . Do you think he has returned some of that in taxes and benefit- that it was a good investment for the government in the name of the common good? I do. We have a successful electric car out front, risking at first, that has given incentive for other car makers. The Common Good has gained. Twitter is another matter to settle. I hope it will be. It should be regulated and or a utility or something-- like the phone. But the solution is above my pay grade. Maybe Musk hate will cause Twitter to fail and other venues will rise. Jury out.
Why? Having inherited money is not a personal trait of character.
Making money is not a trait of character, it's an ability though. I meant that he pays taxes ( or should) on what he has earned. That is returning money to the government for its investment. His worth is $248 billion, which is not his earnings. He has also made wealth for others. That's a part response to what he owes the "common good". Include his tax dollars. Also that he enabled or formed a company that produced an electric car and inspired other car makers to do so and some to buy even at a high price is a common good, perhaps more so. He was a star for awhile until he started making foolish statements and then bought Twitter and is probably destroying it. I do not like him, but why hate him so much as to deny the contributions?
Wow Clarence, that was pretty rude! "you idiots, deep state" (nonsense). Is that your MO? Musk has a lot of despicable things going, it is just who he is. I need to see evidence that the government is supporting him and his Twitter-X BS.
I agree. Just shoot Musk in the foot, LOL!
At least decelerate the chaos in the 'town hall' of the internet. Until then I will stay off Twitter, as I have since he blocked our teacher!
Best move you ever made! Now if the rest of the Muskrat's newly formed generation [X'ers] would follow suit, to bury this POS as close to the center of the earth as possible, where it's nice and hot, we'd be golden!
In principle I agree, but there's a lot about electric cars most folks don't consider.
General considerations:
- ELECTRIC VEHICLES; WILL THEY SAVE OR DESTROY US? :
https://youtu.be/UNBLhGsjHQI
Specific considerations:
- ARE ELECTRIC CARS GREEN OR NOT? :
https://youtu.be/P1PcDSffaWo
Other considerations:
- HOW GREEN ARE ELECTRIC CARS? | IT'S COMPLICATED:
https://youtu.be/Chp9VlSs25c
- RENEWABLE ENERGY IS THE SCAM WE ALL FELL FOR [‽]:
https://youtu.be/lL6uB1z95gA
A credible alternative is to reduce our reliance on private cars in favor of reliable public transportation, but city design is a major limitation:
- LIVELY AND LIVABLE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE ILLEGAL IN MOST OF NORTH AMERICA:
https://youtu.be/bnKIVX968PQ
- AMERICAN VS EUROPEAN SUBURBS:
https://youtu.be/mV6ZENGko1I
- WHY AMERICAN CITIES ARE BROKE:
https://youtu.be/7IsMeKl-Sv0
- INTRODUCTION TO TRANSIT HEIRARCHY IN CITIES | BASICS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND CITY DESIGN:
https://youtu.be/MVZ5keD38Ik
How do you feel about living in high(er) density neighborhoods? How do you feel about >completely< changing your "way of life?" How do you feel about nuclear power plants?
As you can probably surmise, I have come to have a healthy skepticism about what good will come of replacing internal combustion engines with electric motors in the same kind of vehicular transportation that can arguably shown as only a symptom the >real< problem in the first place - excess population, which concentrates in urban and suburban environments, and what to do about it. That's a >really< scary question that carries within it the seeds of >extremely dark< solutions.
I'm thinking that in order to have >any< chance of bringing climate change under control, we must start with city design. Of course, that completely side-steps the question of >overpopulation< in the first place. But you've probably noticed none of that has >anything< to do with what kind of motor you have running your car. On the other hand, it directly attacks the question of why you should be addicted to such personal transportation in the first place.
BTW: I don't give a phiddler's phuc about Teslas or the values of a natural born white, South African bigot who is personally not worth the paper his US naturalization is printed on, who's a'hustlin' them. Whereas I don't think striving to develop a credible, environmentally safe, and sustainable source of energy is a scam, I don't think what's currently being offered - or hustled, if you will - will do credibly much to remedy the >real< problem that drives the increasingly apparent climate change we currently face. It's a little like a hard-liquor addict switching to beer in the name of recovering from alcoholism.
DZK, you raise a valid point. We have personal cars ourselves. Why? Public transport where we live is spare to nonexistent. On the routes it does run, the frequency is low enough that you must plan your day around bus arrivals to make it work. It seems that outside of a few major cities in the USA, mass transit is an afterthought. Where it does exist, it has hardly any budget and runs infrequently with spotty coverage.
We went to Italy a few years ago to take an anniversary cruise. We hired a car just for us to take us back to the airport after we returned. A couple from the UK we met on the cruise opted for the public train. They beat us to the airport by at least a half hour, if not more. Building our nation's transportation infrastructure around the personal automobile was extremely shortsighted. Now we have sprawling tendrils to disparate settlement that make personal vehicles a necessity. Unless more of us move to city centers, or micromanaging supervisors accept that most employees are effective WFH, this trade of emissions pollution to resource exploitation to "go green" persists.
This ain't a modern European innovation. In 1975 I backpacked to India from Luxembourg. Got a train to Assisi (it was a pilgrimage) Got off at Milano and discovered it was a HUGE city and no cheap hostel in sight. Went back into the terminal & got another train going south. Did the same in Florence and got another train going south to Assisi, which was still as quaint as the time of St. Francis.
The point is at that time in the U.S. there was only one train a day making long trips across the country. I would have been stranded in the train stations for a couple of days here.
Rob, you're not wrong at all. To bolster your point, the station closest to the ships in that port city, Civitavecchia, was clearly there from WAY before I was born. The train wasn't a Bullet or TGV either. No matter. It beat the pants off the late model, direct-injected diesel Benz our driver was piloting by at least a half hour. He was channeling his inner-Andretti too.
Sometimes we get things right in the USA. In my estimation, we score an incomplete on transit.
I fail to see what or how your and other travel experiences way back when apply. Way back then and over there there was and is a world of difference and a different world that developed in a different way and had a different worldview religiously and economically.
We need public transportation badly, especially fast trains. But this is not happening or in some cases possible, topographically or politically. The climate issue is urgent and we have to get off of fossil fuels asap. WE should also get off of using most of the plastic that we use. Conservation too is very important. Let a thousand flowers bloom.
Agreed.
DZK. Most of the hype is BS. However, researchers have discovered that hemp batteries can potentially last eight times longer than lithium-based batteries and outperform graphene at a fraction of the cost. https://formulaswiss.com/blogs/industry-news/the-future-of-batteries-hemp?fbclid=IwAR0RDiTbCMsy7cMqP_4rHsKC-xDY2wDN-vZjlT4rvmzr2wJxU_qNdrP2YJs
This could soon change everything. Cash crop. https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/hemp
I >love< the idea! 🤣👍
But I still think the problem is far deeper than clean energy, and the solution isn't nearly as simple as what kind of cars we drive.
I had not heard of this before. Thank you. Hemp is also a crop that does not require environmentally destructive pesticides and herbicides. If grown with regenerative farming techniques it could also help soil captures greater amounts of CO2 and help fight climate change that way.
Holy sh*****. Hemp is so awesome.
@DZK. This is a perplexing post. All talking points (and authors) sponsored by big oil/energy firms. What ever bit of valid concerns are expressed (which there are answers for) the overall effect is to sow confusion and undermine efforts to green up our transportation economy. Why, you ask, should one be addicted to personal transportation? That's a question for philosophers. The economics question is how to sustainably meet demand for transportation in a manner that does not destroy human habitability on this planet.
That's why I tried to break the problem down to its atomic level - no pun intended. The problem arises as a function of how we live as a society, that you seem to believe is a question for philosophers. It all involves a burgeoning population, where to put them, and how best to serve them - and I agree it's a perplexing problem, given how it evolved in the first place. Energy is >definitely< a pressing issue - along with the vehicles that use it, which I consider a symptom. But, I don't think you can fix the problem without attacking that which drives it all. In short, like ol' Tweety, the energy issue itself is a symptom. It's not the problem that most urgently needs addressed.
@DZK. The Chinese tried birth control - they are now backpedaling like crazy trying to increase their birth rate. The problem you are addressing (but not saying out loud) is un-regulated capitalism, and that my friend is a self-replicating monster. Only government by the people has ever produced any moderation in the capitalistic crusade.
BTW: Mr Stockton, I listed the "talking points" as a descriptor for what the videos discuss in detail. I tried to list them in a way that shows the premises upon which I base my conclusion. But it involves focusing on the video content - not the talking points.
ABOUT THE CITY PLANNING!! Yes, planners and sociologists know about these things. The little corner store in a residential neighborhood, the local post office, the library, and even local neighborhood schools — not to meniton streets with shops on street level and apartments above. These are all “social engineering” aspects that help to tie communities together, make for far more congenial living, cut down on the anomie of life in a community, and even reduce things like vandalism by giving people [and kids] a sense of being IN a community instead of just living in a house someplace.
Small towns … I live in Vermont. When we lose a country store {most towns had their own}, it is a HUGE factor in people losing touch with each other, and in diminishing their sense of community. But people don’t earn a living wage and the country store can’t compete for dollars, so we’re losing them.
City planners know that rigid residential planning is “sprawl,” and contributes to more roads and cost of infrastructure, and uses up open land, and costs more to patrol, and fight fires, and build schools, isolates us from the people, from others who vote on our schools and taxes, so we have less shared sense of …and …and …
American city planners know all this stuff. And have known it since I started covering Planning Board Meetings in the 1970s and reading books on livable neighborhoods that were written decades before that. But they still zone for sprawl.
And they you get SOME people who disparage the social engineering aspect of town and city planning.. .
One must wonder why.
Great response. You clearly understand the nature of >that< problem!
My quick look at the above selection of videos suggest to me that the biggest arguments saying Green is not as Green as we’d like it to be are that the technology is not “there” yet. Not that it could not be, but it isn’t.
If we’d been about it for a longer time, we’d be further along to being low carbon AND high output AND more efficient in storage and delivery of energy. We’d be more Green.
It seemed that the arguments above {those I sampled} did notsay Green has a larger carbon footprint that fossil, overall. Just that it’s still annoying and inconvenient.
Humph.
{… and for SURE, I’d be so happy if the US had invested in mass transit far more than it has …way far more!!!}
Please revisit the magic bullet comment. I had afterthoughts! (I >always< suffer from afterthoughts! LOL!)
LOL,me, too.
Y'mean you think I'm suggesting there's no "magic bullet?" Then for all intent, you are correct. Look a little deeper, though. For example, pay attention to the "break even" point. Also, consider the rare-earths involved. And don't forget about how the electricity is generated, how it's transmitted, and line loads for charging the vehicles. Just sayin'.
Nowhere am I saying we shouldn't take what measures we reasonably can. What I am saying is that we should reassess what the >real< problem actually is. We can get no farther than how we address that real problem.
Pretty much. For sure, identifying the problem is at least half of how we figure out how to solve it. Yeah, we depend on individual ways of life far too much. Communal and shared is just not our “thing.” Not in housing, not in travel, not in much of anything.
I’m saying all those technologies you mention are current state of what we know — we should be way past them by now …Look at the damned article about hemp — hey is that real, or an ONION article? Who knows about that stuff, and why didn’t we know a long time ago?
I’m, suggesting we haven’t been working on solutions to warming nearly long enough. The stuff you mention should already be in our rearview mirror, but it’s not.
And scientists knew this was coming for generations … But we twiddled our thumbs and fought over access to billons of dollars in oil, coal, and gas markets, and waited until the last minute to stop changing our planet’s entire climate. [And folks who think that’s just the air had better realize we warmed the oceans, too.}
You want us to have better identified the crux of the problem. I want us to have started a lot sooner —You are in a better position to get your point addressed than mine. I hope we still HAVE enough time to develop the technologies we need, whichever way we decide to use them.
I am not "addicted" to personal transportation. I need it to live, to get where I have to go. There is no other way. As well we all have finite time to live. Time getting to and from places using available transportation is magnified without a car. This eats up your life... especially if you have to get to a Dr. or in an emergency.
I do not think your skepticism is healthy at all. We need to get off of fossil fuels ASAP. Driving an EV is a way to help the situation... not a solution. Nobody I know is saying that it is a solution.
As well, beware of what you ingest that is promoted by fossil fuel interests in terms of your doubts about electric cars. It may be possible to fuel our cars with a non-carbon based fuel that is sustainable, but that, like electric vehicles will take time and energy itself. (Hydrogen powered cars in California?) In the meantime- we are being credibly told that using EV's help the near environmental crisis when you replace your FF car. ( I still have a FF car but measure my trips out- I don't use a car every day.)
People that have planted their lives out in the suburbs, the exurbs, the farmlands and rural areas are not going to move to the city, nor can the cities accommodate them. This is no answer. What will happen if the planet stays viable and grows will be new cities.... but not fast enough.
Yes have less children, smaller homes. (Attention to birth control and abortion rights!) But you are touching the "American Dream". People want a family land and nature/a garden. This is what people everywhere seek! Yes to more public mass transportation long distances. Good luck with city design unless it's a new city.
Smart folks like you should get a horse or go for an EV in the meantime and not overthink this into unreality. We will get a EV to replace our FFs.
Like I said: addicted. So am I. Maybe I'm not virtue signaling here. Maybe I'm not justifying fossil fuels. Maybe I'm not saying you shouldn't drive electric cars. Maybe I'm not saying we shouldn't pursue more sustainable energy. Maybe I'm not insinuating a single thing you seem to think I'm suggesting. Maybe, you've just plain missed the point. Maybe what I'm really saying is that just about everyone oversimplifies the problem, and nothing I've mentioned can fix the problem in the foreseeable future. So go ahead and drive whatever car >you can afford<, go ahead and live where >you can afford<, and know "the American dream" was always a PR marketing hoax conducted by the very people who want to make sure things remain the way they are.
Well then we are living in a PR marketing hoax?
I am responding to your declaration of skepticism about electric cars and then laying out of solutions that are not forthcoming or not realistic. I think I got what you are saying.
You know that the first years of Hitler's rule were exactly what the Germans needed at the time. Although I would not compare Musk with Hitler I am simply making the point that when people get too big of themselves, their egos move into the passing lane and they actually think that they can do anything and are not answerable to anybody. Well they are. Aside from the fact that this kind of issue is rooted in insecurity, at some point and just like a balloon, overblown egos usually blow themselves up, an affliction that I see as being eerily similar to one being carried by someone else (no names mentioned). Some people leave a legacy that is to be respected and others manage to poison theirs.
Trump got too big because people were enthralled by him for years, including the media. They were amused and overlooked how much of a threat he has always been, a bad seed grown, a faux charmer, a petty criminal. The money kept flowing- too easily. So he became a star, with pretty women he could afford to marry and then some. And this encouraged him to go further to the presidency, really endangering this country. There were and are enough vulnerable people out here that went for the con. That's a better fit for Hitler, Putin is more of a fit. Musk was put on a pedestal until he fell off- he could not quite make the heights, except with SpaceX. This is a feature of capitalism. We suffer from it. WE have a line up of such people ready to take their place. The audience is at fault too, the enablers.
Honestly I don't really agree with you. I understand what you're trying to say very well. But I feel you're coming from fear. It's like when the school bully comes around all the kids in the schoolyard run to the other side of the playground. That's totally coming from fear. I think we can do better than that.
I don't think you do understand what I am trying to say. Near as I can tell your response is to me saying we should use other means to deal with Elon Musk other than shooting ourselves in the foot by not buying his electric vehicle because we hate him. That is fear? I don't feel bullied into buying a Tesla. I don't understand you comment or analogy. There is opposition to buying a Tesla here and it's either about hate of Musk - essentially because of Twitter issues. I do not disagree that he worthy of this hate. Another comment is about skepticism of electric vehicles altogether. (I responded to that).
I'm on the old side, with human systems failing. I like the safety features. I believe that with enough sensors, and enough computer brains that self driving cars will eventually be far better than mere human drivers.
On the other hand, I don't want to drive a computer. I don't like too many features. I absolutely hate the need to learn how to use these features by trial and error. It used to be sufficient to speed up, slow down, and steer. Back when I was an engineer, things had to be documentated, but that practice has dissappered with the advent of programmers. It might have something to do with the business trying to protect trade secrets - I don't want to blame creative programmers when stinking money grabbers are there to blame instead.
I understand. Our son/daughterinlaw have a Tesla and we had a chance to ride and drive one. Not to be feared was the decision. But different, yes. I am not young. I imagine older people will be ending their driving careers sooner than later.. and it's a challenge and can bring fear to learn something new especially when you know your senses and reaction time is not what it was. The car might be able to see what you did not see coming though. It's a matter of your ability and will to learn something new and being attached to the old way of driving. I understand the "self driving" is an add on. Generally the review in this family has been very positive...and no love for Musk here.. a lot of hesitation and weighing took place before the purchase.
PS I learned on a stick shift-- probably still could use one.
My oldest son and wife both have model 3's, and like them. My youngest son works for Tesla in field service of charging networks. They let him use one after another to field test them on-the-job. They have lots of bells and whistles, that I could do without. Myself and wife have an old i-MiEV, plus a Kia Niro. They both work well. But the Kia is plagued with awkward software controls.
Elon wants to further the agenda of the obscenely wealthy! Sow discord and confusion, and above all ; Hate!
Simply put, fuck Elon musk. I am worn out, where did these despicable pieces of shit that have all this money come from? I have been following these degenerates ever since Trump Was first elected. I am approaching the end of the fourth quarter and it is not how I thought I would spend my so-called golden years. I am thankful that Michigan is now a totally democratic state. And we’re trying to get rid of The Republican slime as fast as we can. It’s more important to me to live in a state with the liberal governor and Congress, then to worry about Washington, and the Republican scum that lives there.
Gary, the problem is there are many of us (the rest of us) who live in the Southeastern US, coming from “Sweet Home Alabama” (God help anyone in Tuberville’s turf, although someone had to vote to elect that fool) now residing and stuck in SC ( yup, watching the performantive antics of two-faced Lindsey Graham) who cannot for many reasons relocate as much as we would like to. Remember Thomas Wolf who wrote “You Can’t Go Home Again” to Alabama where I was so very happy because it is not the place you left behind. So I spend my not golden years in a place I really detest; that makes me very unhappy. As an example, I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday in an office with few people as expected and happily wore a tee shirt emblazoned with Obama and Biden jogging through the halls of the White House. I received lots of giggles about my courage to do so and warnings to be careful where I went from there as it is DANGEROUS to exhibit openly one’s ideals in this blood red state. I would never have gone anywhere else in such attire as I am too fragile to defend myself but yesterday, and after reading the news of the day, I am happily sitting at home enjoying the art work on my favorite tee on the day after Trump was indicted and the day before he goes before the judge! 😊❤️🇺🇸🌎🕊️🎶🍾💃🏼
Judith, as Neil Diamond would say “except for the names, and a few other changes, you can talk about me,The story is the same one”.It seems to me that the Trump sycophants think they’re the only ones out in the sticks That feel they are true patriots. I know there are a lot of good folks all over the country who have to the live around this stupidity and ignorance. If this country doesn’t straighten up It’s act real soon, we will all be looking for a state to move to (not on what the weather is like)but where the kindred spirits are. Michigan got rid of the partisan gerrymandering problem in a referendum two years ago. And look what happened ,complete control by Democrats for the first time in almost 50 years. Hallelujah. Let’s all hang in there.
Ironically, I just heard that song yesterday, over the supermarket's system, in this (again, supposedly) bright blue area of Joyzee.
I was amazed that they would even choose to put that one into the mix/rotation of songs, at all, given the current 'political climate' in this land.
And YES, I know about the whole Neil Young and Ronnie VZ 'kiss and make up' thing, and yes, that the Skynard band members were mostly left leaning Dem types as well (just like the Allmans.
But it has sort of become an anthem for the "Hell no, we ain't never forgot!" peckerwood types, not just below the Mason-Dixon line, but everywhere.
Same here living in (supposedly, but sometimes I wonder) bright blue Joyzee.
SCUMp, and his Q'aNAZI brownshirt worshipers, and all of the supporting, sycophantic, fascist PsOS in both houses of Congress have shortened my already getting too short (chronologically) life due to all of the existential/total loss of all rights worry and angst which they take sadistic glee in making me suffer through in my 'golden years'.
This is even BEFORE they make sure that I have to fret and sweat out EVERY election, worrying that they will gain a majority (and then maybe the POTUS to sign it) in order to accomplish their ongoing and incessant wet dream of obliterating (EARNED BENEFITS which I have PAID INTO my WHOLE WORKING LIFE!) Social Security and Medicare, without which I am out on the streets and dead. (NOT an wealthy Tesla buyer/owner here! )
We feel exactly like you do. The last eight years of living in northern Michigan has turned into a nightmare. Neither one of us will live long enough to see this national disgrace end. Maybe my grand children will, or maybe not. There is so much more racial hatred Out there than I ever imagined.
Tesla is being sited for secretly using software to overstate the milage range on each cars battery until it reaches a certain %...then correcting the milage reading so the driver doesn't inadvertently get stranded. i.e.lying to make the driver think their car gets more miles per charge than initially indicated. GUESS WHO ORDERED THE INSTALLATION OF THAT SOFTWARE!! https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-batteries-range/
Yes... I have the best EV...2021 Mustang Mach E! Fabulous car!
YES, PLEASE tell that to the wealthy (and yes, sadly mostly self-proclaimed progressive/liberal) buyers and drivers of his products HERE where I live.
His crap is MUCH more prolific here than Camrys used to be everywhere, before huge SUVs became the requisite, de riguer, 'go to' vehicles.
The cars are darned ugly anyway.
Anti-democratic is right. I recall Dave Troy's article in October 22 stating that Musk's goal in purchasing Twitter was not really to make money, but to control the information space and reshape the global world order. Musk is aligned with Putin in desiring a "multipolar world order." Musk is antidemocratic, believing advances in society are made through "technocracy" and at best democracy should be managed by smart people like Musk and his "technical managers" (eerily similar to Putin's "methodologists"). According to Troy, Musk would ultimately like to replace the dollar with cryptocurrency and government with an app! Also, Musk's "longtermism" is about humanity's future in space--hence his disregard for social, climate, and political ills here and now. Troy is a tech entrepreneur, disinformation specialist and investigative journalist who shares the same tech world as Musk, Dorsey, and their supporters. Here is a link to the article if you are so inclined: https://davetroy.medium.com/no-elon-and-jack-are-not-competitors-theyre-collaborating-3e88cde5267d
I don't believe these wealthy tech people have much of a soul and I don't think they like people or other living beings. There is an emotional disconnect. The idea that life exists in a techno bubble that should encompass us all is repugnant. I don't like them and we had best figure out how to deflate them sooner rather than later.
They're all frustrated gamers that were a natural for that anti-social venue!
Social Networking is the bane of society's woes. We went from communal discourse vis a vis socializing in person, to hoarding the "likes" of strangers via high tech or as I affectionately refer to it as, "High Dreck!"
I think you’re right. I keep thinking back to Rivera Sun’s book of speculative fiction, The Dandelion Insurrection , as well as the film, Don’t Look Up.
I couldn't agree more, Susan. The autocratic tendencies of Musk and his ilk appear to be about maximizing profits but in truth are about mind control via poisonous ad campaigns, relentless, insidious marketing and hate memes that will gradually erode our will to doubt, question and ultimately act against them. The Biden administration has little time left to accomplish great good and democracy might only survive if they nationalize the mega fortunes of people like Musk and redistribute them in the national interest and infrastructure. The scale of power must be rebalanced if democracy is to survive and we are to retain our autonomy.
They want ALL of us living in (and controlled BY) THEIR 'Metaverses'.
I FUCKING FLAT OUT REFUSE TO DO THAT!!!
The technocratic fantasies of Musk and others like him, of humans migrating to other planets having ruined the Earth, are juvenile sci-fi.
However, I would love for them all to leave ASAP!
The rate at which we are ruining Earth far surpasses the technology needed to relocate. We need to fix what used to be liveable. If Musk wants to leave, I say go for it.
As the protest signs say;
"There is NO PLAN(ET) B!"
Exactly
They are not
Celia, great assessment of who Musk is and what he wants. Above all, he wants money and power which lets him fit very well with the current Republican party that has the same top two. He thinks he is a genius and a lot of people agree, unfortunately. He has delusions of grandeur. He has not a drop of humanity and wants power with no checks, you know, like a toddler. We all need to be the adults in the room and tell him "no," for a change, and send him for a nap.
Well said.
He is (or at least was) the absolute darling of the rightwingnut fascists, especially the ones on Goebbels Nooz. ;)
Anti democratic because they are against in favour of a multipolar world and because crypto against the dollar ?? 😁 come on ... every mogul enters media to have his view point on info put through .. what about Washington post and Bezos ?
Are you sure that your username have a B on the end?!?
Yes, I know that your fascist dear leader's newer 'agency' uses the acronym 'FSB' nowadays. ;)
Hi, I'm from Denmark, and I try my best to follow wonderful Reich.
I kind of wonder about Musk...what kind of people do he intend to ship to Mars?
The poorest African people? Every single parent in the world? Who comes first in line to flee our polluted planet?
Those who are left behind, will they suffer even more because of the pollution, the space traveling people allow their transportation to spit out over the planet?
Will Musk let the orphaned and (by Russia) kidnapped children of Ukraine go first?
Are maybe only Americans included?
Just asking...🤔
I was being sarcastic.
Wow. I would love to hear what Dr. Reich thinks about the ideas put forth in this Dave Troy article.
X is not his major holding. Last year, he lost big when investors sold Tesla short. https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2023-04-14/tesla-short-sellers-won-big-last-year-will-2023-be-the-same-or-can-musk-s-bullish-forecast-pull-the-stock-back-up
It may be that the most efficient way to attack racism on X/Twitter is to sell his other holdings.
Agree with your solution. I did it a while back.
I never joined it. Saves me the trouble of getting off it.
Same here, and the same goes for ALL of the other 'social media' BULLSHIT 'platforms'. ;) :)
I enjoyed it until Musk took over. Didn't take long 'til the haters started filling up the feed. I quit because I don't need that in my life.
Don't blame you.
The real discouraging bit of news is that Musk is followed by “148 million people”. And that’s probably just a fraction of those who would get off by his brand of crap. He’s obviously out to get them all.
One obsolete billionaire is worth 1,000,000 "peasants" moneywise. Well, at least for a couple weeks before they realize Earth is OUT of oil AND coal for hundreds of thousands of years!
I will not even try to READ a tweet that is not printed in full in some other venue. I will not contribute one second of my time making it look like I “use” that service. I dumped my account there a couple of years ago, and will never return.
Never tweeted; never will.
i choose to stay engaged as long as possible on twitter - i refuse to call it 'X' as X is awful on many levels - for two main reasons. (1) twitter will be around in some for for years to come, and (2) their CEO/CIO/CTO will continue to 'report' user numbers that have little basis in reality as they have no way to truly de-duplicate - and it is *against their financial interests* to report the number of verifiable, regular Twitter users. Im sure twitter leaders are already scheming to keep numbers up as good people/real news feeds leave it en masse.
Get off--definitely vote with your feet!
Could not agree more. I agree with your final statement, leave the X platform!
Where are the hateful ? xenophobic ? Paranoid ? Anti democratic ? Contents on X ..? These are judgement calls , start from your inner self , You are just labellig what you dislike ....you are anti democratic and willing to smother dissent
If you're not seeing it you either ignore/avoid those threads or you agree with some of the messages. The HATE is open & Obvious, the lies are harmful & dangerous. It's anti-democratic to accept it.
Pootin and his army of fascist hacker troll bots must adore ol' Elon. ;)
Sadly, there are places in this land where that will get you shot dead, and then the perpetrator(s) will be not only acquitted, by their fellow MAGA fascists, but lionized and pedestalized for committing the crime.
American Elites Live Under A Different Set Of Laws
They’re not fooling anyone! The American people know that the billionaires can and do get away with crimes that ordinary citizens do not. Why do you think we are so divided as a country? Billionaires and their corporations lobby Congress to get what they want!
The Working Class people who work 8 hours or more hours a day, and 5, 6 or 7 days a week normally do not pay attention to what’s going on in government. They assume that the people they elected are working in a bipartisan manner to help them. With such things as Healthcare, Education, Infrastructure, Inflation, etc….
Instead what are we getting, a bunch of immature and ridiculous politicians who are in lockstep with one of the worst Americans ever! What does it say about our country that this guy was elected president? See paragraph one.
Most people I talk to believe the former president will get away with all the terrible things he has done because he is in the elite ranks! He’s been getting away with bad behavior his entire life. We all know that’s not going to change.
Here is a list of some of the things that got us here. Starting with the most egregious.
1. Trickle Down Economics
2. Citizens United
3. Bush v Gore
4. Roe v Wade
5. Congress’ Civil War
My question is why are American people (In the lower classes and lower middle class) so badly educated?
I had my daughter in public school in LA it was disgusting what she didn't learn! So how do small states look....I suspect awful. We left the US 23yrs ago mostly because we could see what was happening + half the population didn't know what was going on and as you say hoped their politicians were working. Not a good way to go.
Don't have much faith that the Americans will do the right thing and turn a little more to the left.
Why? Hatred of raising taxes even those that benefit their children or grandchildren like taxes that buy new equipment or replace aging schools or raise teacher salaries.
You answered my question.
Ronald Reagan is to blame as he eviscerated all Federal budgets for Public education and free community college! Reagan ate the middle class, burped and got dementia so he could forget all the evil he created for the people of this country!
See what happens when stupid people vote for actors or reality TV clowns?
I believe we have Forrest Gump to thank. "Stupid is as stupid does"!
Remember The Truman Show with Jim Carrey? That is now our reality.....except w/o pay!
Support all Unions!
Movies can be so enlightening. They can display who we might aspire to be. They can remind us of who we are, what mankind has been and done ... and now the movie industry itself is facing crises at many points!
"Life is like a box of chocolates with mixed nuts!" lol.
As school districts get much of their funding from local taxes, the education your kid gets is directly connected with the amount of taxes you pay. Where I live in Al. the town I live in did the same thing the last town I lived in did. They looked at the county schools and decided they could do better if they started their own district. Both times it was a major success. The education standards for our schools are very high, the rate of graduates is great and the help for kids who are struggling is excellent. I don't mind paying more taxes, even though my kids are grown. The ones in school now are the doctors, nurses, lawyers etc. of the future.
Jennifer--If Americans didn't do the right thing your first language would most likely be German.
@Donald. Nah, that's not relevant to Jennifer's comment. Our "greatest generation" finally did do what was needed to save Democracy in Europe. Thankfully. But the state of education in this country can stand some improvements!
Ben--I wholeheartedly agree.
Clarence--
Donald Hodgins
Writes Donald’s Substack
just now
Clarence--Well, I can tell from your eloquent response there is some degree of an educational background at your disposal, somewhere. Now, I find your thought referring to my background in theology a bit tripe. Would you care to rephrase your thought so it makes some degree of sense. Because I have no idea what your insignificant childish mind is talking about.
@Jennifer. The right wing of the Republican party is a strict minority of Americans. They, and their children, tend to be rural, under-educated, under-employed and frustrated at the hollowing-out of the American countryside, a process hastened by the operation of global capital in out-sourcing good jobs to lower labor cost (and lower tax) communities overseas. Those folks know what they are mad about. But they are being exploited, re-directed and financially milked by the very same global capitalists who took away their jobs. It is the mission of the center and left in this country to make it clear to folks what is really happening; to get better laws and rein in the oligarchs we only need to peel off 3% or 4% of the more reasonable people who once upon a time fell for the Trumpian message and get them to give Democrats (not perfect, but better) a shot.
We commonly talk of red vs blue states but the most profound demographic voting divide is urban vs rural. Not only are few well-educated people living in rural areas but their exposure to the "news" is dominantly right-wing networks that scare them daily about the most extreme, harsh realities urbanities are used to living with, plus church pastors who are bribed by dark money to scare-monger about "Demoncrats." All they see is that Trump is a successful billionaire heroically fighting against them and siding with the church pastors to protect the country from urban crime and baby killers.
@Frederick. This is very close to my own views. However, I put a large part of the blame at the feet of the same oligarchs using global capitalism to move good jobs to low labor costs communities overseas. It's really dirty how they use their money to both hollow out the heartland AND to buy off right wing media outlets intent on blaming the problems on all the well-known tropes (immigrants, people of color, non-binary people, woke people and socialists).
"America has the best democracy that money can buy." Gary Younge, former US correspondent for The Guardian (now Prof of Sociology at Univ. of Manchester)
Yes...........money.
And a focus on just money, instead of VALUE received in return. That is, saying "taxes are too high" rather than looking into where tax money goes, is it furthering community goals and meeting needs, who gets subsidies and why...
TAX THE RICH like all of our lives depend on it. Make them pay their fair share.
Remove the SS lncome cap to save and grow Social Security.
It's the cheapest and quickest fix, but only if Dems regain control of all 3 Houses in 2024.
🏆🏆🏆🏆
That is the key point now. You put it so well.
It reminds me of the old saying, “He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
Not for much longer, i fear.
Keith, good assessment of the super rich and their ability to manipulate nearly everything to suit themselves. We could stop this. Our problem, among many is that people honor rich people as though they have some kind of magical, almost divine abilities that make them nearly demigods. I would love to find a way to communicate to people that these oligarchs are just humans like all of us, but actually more pathetic because they have decided they are more important than anything else and will make all of us bow to their childish whines and wants, and mostly we do. We need to stop that nonsense and start holding them to the same standards as everyone else. That would be amazing!
Sorry, I don't think we can blame Roe v. Wade but its overturning by Dobbs.
Ronald Reagan, Don T. Regan and their economic Master of disaster, Milton Friedman are the Trilogy of domestic economic terrorism! Trickle down econ 101. Starve the beast. Austerity for the people....Corporate Socialism for the billionaires and their 'corpseorations'!
Where the fuck is that pansy Paul Ryan? Oh, he's making millions working for a K street lobbying firm after he robbed the taxpayers of $2 Trillion dollars for his corrupt republicon cronies......then simply disappeared. Did The Donald thank you for his gift?https://www.npr.org/2017/12/02/567882076/fact-check-how-does-paul-ryans-case-for-tax-cuts-match-the-facts
Keith, Exactly and well stated. Thank you!
I believe the culture wars are Sykes by these people. I’m in West Yellowstone, Montana for the summer where you meet people from across America and the world. Nobody’s hurling epithets at each other. In fact , I’m getting some great stories and making friends.
Thank you for relaying this disturbing information to us, Professor Reich. I had an inkling but no idea just how horrible Twitter has become. (I do not hold ANY social media accounts.)
Bullies are the scum of the earth.
Musk is way out of control; the fact that he has launched nearly 5,000 Starlink satellites to outer space in the past few years is deeply troubling. Here’s a link to the NY Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/28/business/starlink.html?smid=url-share
My advice to all of your readers is - boycott Twitter and Tesla.
Professor, thank you for keeping us informed.
Your friend in MD, Anne 🌻🙏💙
4500 satellites! That’s a problem particularly because they are owned by one man, a dangerous one at that.
First of all our planet is surrounded by space junk making it more and more dangerous for legitimate space exploration in the name of science. Even a very small piece of space junk can do considerable damage due to the speed that they travel.
Secondly having a monopoly in internet and voice communications that carry highly sensitive communications should not in the hands of an explosive off the wall billionaire.
Unfortunately the Republicans are against any kind of regulations for industry, they’d rather regulate what individuals can read, what kind of health care and family planning they may have access to and what they can learn. Keep ‘em stupid and quiet.
Elon Musk is not only a bully he’s a dangerous man. His money has bought him the power to do and say whatever he pleases.
Our democracy is quickly becoming an oligarchy. What used to be our safeguard, the Supreme Court
Has over half of the judges in the pockets of the ultra wealthy heads of corporations.
Vote like your democracy depends on it because it truly does.
I concur with everything you say, Susan. I hope you’re wrong about this country becoming an oligarchy. We must prevail in 2024 and keep the likes of the-previous-occupant-of-the-people’s-house nowhere near the White House— he belongs in the Big House.
I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was send some $$ to Biden/Harris.
Thanks for this great comment.
🌻🙏💙
Thank you!
Biden ! The most rot corrupted president of history will be your rescue ? Come on
Susan, you are on the mark with Republicans wanting people to b e ignorant. Republicans foster and encourage ignorance by their support of media like Fox, Twitter-X, and anything that will repeat lies and misinformation over and over, support an ignorant fool for president, and think money makes someone more special and deserving than anyone else. Yep, they also want to keep people from knowing the truth, from learning about how we got where we are, and who is to blame for this money madness and so many people's lack of money. How do we stop it? We need some really innovative ideas for this and a lot of courage.
I ended my Twitter account the day he bought it and never looked back. I wouldn’t drive a Tesla if it was the last car on earth. Musk is n evil man and what he’s doing with the satellites over Ukraine is nothing more than being a traitor. Money...truly the root of all evil....
I think it's the love of money that's the root.
The article to which you refer reveals the almost incomprehensible magnitude of the now space-industrial-military complex. I am happy to see you refer to it. The answer to this megalomania is complex yet it all boils down to power & money. I do not know how individuals can effectively oppose it in the short term, but resist it we must for the survival of humanity.
Yes! Wonderful comment - I too was stunned to read the starlink article last weekend.
Reminder that today, Tuesday, August 1, is the "stay off Twitter" day. I don't know if it will have any impact, but it is the least we can do.
I’ll do that one better and stay off Twitter all month. I kind of doubt I’ll ever go back.
How about never getting on it in the first place? Stay off every day!
Short Tesla.
I closed my Twitter account more than a month ago. I recommend everyone do the same. With nothing by haters on the service, the advertising will dry up completely. Make Musk eat his 42 Billion folly.
Musk will make it a vibrant app we chat model strong both in terms of economics and free speech
“Free” speech should not include hate and pornography.
Or videos of horrific animal abuse, since allowed on Elon's hate machine is also evidence of Elon's sociopathy. I'm sure "David" gets off on all the vile hate and cruelty which is why he's defending the evil SOB.
David ; "Just because you can; doesn't mean you should"! unlimited 'freedom' to harm is not actually freedom at all. What goes around comes around. The cesspool that people like Musk is 'creating' will eventually affect him, and his heirs, too.
You obviously find it difficult to read...
... & write. Not sure what he was trying to say: "...app we chat model strong both..." looks to me like a random agglomeration of words.
Complete with cats being tortured and killed in blenders.
What a sick thing. I am appalled reading that. What a disgusting world we are becoming.
Well put Elon, but in China, the WeChat app took off because there were no alternatives for communicating with family members, and no banking or online payment system for Chinese people whose parents complained, “You want BOTH a bicycle and a refrigerator?!?”
Your X dream started at PayPal, where your suggestion to rename it “X” was nixed by the other investors.
Now it’s up to us to “Nix the X!”
I used to be active on the old Twitter where it was great for professionals in any field exchanging information about their latest findings. So great. Now 🪶 🪦.
Doubtful. Musk has already proven he that he can’t.
Precisely when do you predict Muck will reverse direction and start doing that, David?
sarcasm?
You sound delusional.
Hahaha.....
And thank you elon for providing several examples (comments below) on how you self-justify (and self worship).
elon, you can stop using your alias now.
Trump stands over our Democracy like a "Matador " offering the bull his flowing cape. Beneath the flamboyant cloth a rust encrusted sword is held, waiting for the proper moment to impell our society with the shaft that will alter our future. The fatal thrust is preventable but only if our people begin to see Trump for what he really is, a dysfunctional, pathetic man filled with hate and resentment for a country he never understood in the first place.
Malignant narcissist sums it up.
IT BARELY BEGINS TO TOUCH HIS DISTORTED SELF IMAGE AND OVERALL PERCEPTION. AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED, TRUMP IS NOT QUALIFIED TO CLEAN TOILETS!
Donald, interesting metaphor. I would add to your description of Baby Donnie "whiney childish toddler behavior regularly demonstrated to all who will notice, and unfortunately so many people choose not to notice." I just can't imagine why anyone would want a child to be president or to own a social media platform, yet a bunch of people do seem to like the idea of having toddlers in charge of important things. Ugh!
Ruth--We can't wait for them to grow up because they already have, physically.
First, bullying IS Hate. And fear. Fear that the bully isn't worthy of the respect of others. So the bully acts out to show that he is powerful, "And you better damn well respect me!" It's not surprising that bullies grow up to be violent, hateful people. After all they had that long apprenticeship demonstrating cause-and-effect: Give me what I want, or else!
Second of all, isn't the entire conflict one-sided when it comes to EVIDENCE? On the one side, you have a group that has trotted out documentation, surveys, and studies and whatnot to show Musk hasn't been stifling Hate Speech on Twitter. (In fact, it's like he's _encouraging_ it.) And in response, Musk is ranting, "You're telling lies! Take it back or I'll sue!". Okay, Burden of Proof time: Where's Musk's proof to support his assertion? [Sorry, Elon: "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" just doesn't cut it in adult endeavors.]
Yes, Capt. Musk is a toddler who has learned from someone very well just how to bully to cover his own inadequacy. Why do we human beings keep picking such pathetic individuals to be in charge of things. I get it that they bully some people into it, but that does not mean we should succumb to their toddler behavior. We need to be the adults here.
Bullying is a perception, is not mathematics. In your view not adhering to conventional wisdom and standing up for free speech is bullying. If I say that I think that teens that want to change sex should be offered psych help and not medically supported you would rate me as hate speaker your hate stats are bogged
Unconditional "Free speech" automatically includes freedom to bully others. But some bullies reject free speech: because their bullying requires control of the discourse -- and silencing opponents.
I agree that kids with gender dysphoria (with usually up to five comorbidities) desperately need psychological counselling for the usually assorted causes of their GD, not kneejerk prescription of puberty blockers followed by surgery: when 90 - 95% of them would have "grown out of" their GD if allowed to go through puberty.
But the gender ideology cult that brands this view as "transphobia" by "haters", and condemns all counselling as "conversion therapy", and refuses to debate the issues (as their views are not supported by evidence) is simply acting as cults do: in branding all who don't support it as enemies.
A $4.5 billion dollar industry is at stake, supported by institutional capture. All the bullying here -- mainly as misogyny -- comes from those who reject free speech. Their pivotal specialities are capture of language itself, and vilifying and silencing opponents.
Miss Gabriel how do you know all this about the transgender community? Do you have a transgender child that you hate? Psychological counseling is important and it's done in 100% of the cases. Doctors don't just willy-nilly prescribe puberty blockers. just a quick question for you -are you a member of qnone or some sex cult? Maybe you're a member of one of the Christian communities that this hate transgender people? I don't know, but you seem to be such an expert and that worries me. Because most experts like you know very little about the subject matter.
MsGabriel, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. It sounds as though you do not have any kind of real understanding of what you are trying to share. Please become better informed and try again.
I hsve no trouble understanding that MsGabriel is transphobic and absolutely off the subject at hand.
And thank you elon for providing several examples (comments below) on how you self-justify (and self worship, ‘leonardo’).
David ; So are yours; especially when you are bullied, no doubt. I guess you think it's 'just business'. (The word 'just' is key here). : "hate stats" indeed!
elon, you can stop using your alias now.
I left twitter/X and won’t return. I refuse to pretend what Musk is pushing is normal or acceptable.
Closed my Twitter account when Musk took over. He turns my stomach.
Musk confirms more every day about the bullying & hateful nature of his dark & dangerous pathology. https://samray.substack.com/p/the-grooming-of-elon-musk-a-psychological-139
It's time to launch local-global campaigns to boycott Musk's Twitter hate machine. Make it clear to corporate advertisers that they risk losing patronage if they continue to advertise in Xtwitter. Encourage remaining Twitter users to cut them lose. Twitter is unsaveable under Musk.
Musk is the CEO and co-founder of Tesla (TSLA), the electric vehicle company, and the CEO and lead designer of the aerospace company SpaceX. That's where he is most vulnerable.
Thank you for providing such a clear outline of what Trump has done to Twitter. For months now I search 3 accounts I particularly like & block any nasty tweets. I miss out on most of the people I used to connect with on Twitter. Musk has some kind of narcissistic antisocial personality disorder. He wants to be considered brilliant (where's the evidence if money isn't treated as intelligence), wants to shock & outrage people, wants to wield real world power, but also wants to be liked. Nut case.
Elon Musk should come as no surprise to anyone. It would be interesting to hear someone of his age from South Africa who considers themselves an indigenous descendant from the civilizations of that region of Africa. A little bit of googling and Wikipediaing regarding Elon and his family and it becomes a distinct possibility that if it weren’t for the Apartheid-based world, he grew up in and his parents and grandparents as well he would not be where he is today in many aspects of his life. Hello, as in many parts of the world back in the day Europeans set out purposely to find land they could pillage, plunder and worse, manipulate and rule over for the sake of themselves and their descendants. The privilege afforded Elon by his South African roots was only afforded to him by its brutality inflicted on what is now South Africa. One might guess that Elon Must is yet another product of his upbringing. He grew up as the descendant of an occupier. Perhaps his present attitude toward much is based on the false sense of a deranged version of manifest destiny or whatever one wants to call it. Elon to many, represents oppression and manipulation. It should be no surprise to anyone that he is like he is. Suppose Elon Musk considers himself a leader or wants others to see him as something other than what he presently is. In that case, he has to do a lot of soul-searching and reparation work for the millions his misguided mentality keeps perpetrating onto humanity. If only people like Elon Musk could get beyond themselves and see the real potential all that money and power could do towards making the planet a whole lot better, not worse, perhaps stories like today’s Substack read would become a thing of the past.
Elon is the modern Leonardo my dear
Do you mean the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Leonardo? Because Leonardo DaVinci he's not, my dear!
Believe me that I do know Leonardo quite well he’s very near for ingenuity and transfer of visions into reality
Ahhhahahahahahaha
elon, you can stop using your alias now.
Elon can play his trump card (sorry but it was such an opportune descriptor) - Star Link - to add special mean-spirited behavior. The world may soon rue the fact that he has that control, given his penchant for spewing hatred.
Great analysis. Simple and concise.
Re the charges for Twitter API calls, people should develop systems based on direct HTTP access, such as Postman, which bypass the APIs. Such systems would produce archives of structured data, which can be parsed and analyzed. It's not as convenient as API calls, but with a little creativity would still provide valid results.
"Researchers at Stanford, Berkeley, the CCDH, and the ADL say they can no longer afford access to Twitter data."
Does Stanford, Berkeley, the CCDH, and the ADL hold Tesla stock? Short it!!!!!
Hey, leave the Jews out of it! They've been persecuted enough thoughout history.
Blame Pontius Pilates, the exercise guru, you Pagan Nodick ViQueen.