Disney's disastrous year

[nevin]

Except quite a bit of it is a direct result of that. There's plenty of evidence that racist and sexist content has seen a huge upsurge since he took over and him trimming the amount of moderation that happens because of a lack of people to actually do it is one of the causes.

Well one of Elon's things has always been free speech means anyone get's to talk about anything. He was upfront about why he got rid of so many people and moderators. He really thought getting rid of the gate keepers would grow X.

 

[nevin]

What's the thread supposed to be about? OP wasn't exactly subtle (not even bothering to formulate all their points in complete sentences). There was no point to the thread in the first place except dropping dog whistles I seriously hope everyone that they signal knows everyone else can spot as well.

Personally, I am fascinated by the notion that Musk somehow isn't the Corporatocracy somehow. Child of wealth gets business/economics education from prestigious schools. Helps found company that they sell to fund further purchases. Continue chain of successful sales for profit and new acquisitions (buoyed by incredible grasp of both getting public financing and to also make ones' products indispensable, but then also by connections and being buzzworthy). Direct success was all in straightforward tech and finance startups, with the out-there companies like electric cars and rockets being purchases. Musk is mainstream corporate plutocracy. To the point where I'd say he's most comparable to last century's notorious figure who started out with a huge amount of money, turned it (through questionable or at least selective genius) into an even huger amount of money, and then went off the rails in many ways -- Howard Hughs.

stop that. knowing things. First rule of being a Robber Baron, if you come from a rich family start a myth about how you rose from nothing without any resources by your own bootstraps.

 

[billd91]

Well one of Elon's things has always been free speech means anyone get's to talk about anything. He was upfront about why he got rid of so many people and moderators. He really thought getting rid of the gate keepers would grow X.

Unless, apparently, you're talking about cis- anything. It's things like this that make me deeply suspicious he's really about free speech and open inquiry. He's about freeing HIS preferred kind of speech and the kinds preferred by his sycophants, none of which are particularly introspective or welcoming of points of view/speech that elicit those lines of inquiry. His self-justifications about buying Twitter to combat the wokeness he blames for his trans daughter's disapproval of him are fairly revealing of his real thoughts on freedom of speech.

 

[Mannahnin]

Personally, I am fascinated by the notion that Musk somehow isn't the Corporatocracy somehow. Child of wealth gets business/economics education from prestigious schools. Helps found company that they sell to fund further purchases. Continue chain of successful sales for profit and new acquisitions (buoyed by incredible grasp of both getting public financing and to also make ones' products indispensable, but then also by connections and being buzzworthy). Direct success was all in straightforward tech and finance startups, with the out-there companies like electric cars and rockets being purchases. Musk is mainstream corporate plutocracy. To the point where I'd say he's most comparable to last century's notorious figure who started out with a huge amount of money, turned it (through questionable or at least selective genius) into an even huger amount of money, and then went off the rails in many ways -- Howard Hughes.

In fairness he does seem to have some real skills with startups. Move fast and break stuff can be a functional approach when you're trying to establish a concept and a business. He seems significantly less adept at running an established business and making or keeping it profitable.

Well one of Elon's things has always been free speech means anyone get's to talk about anything. He was upfront about why he got rid of so many people and moderators. He really thought getting rid of the gate keepers would grow X.

[immediately bans accounts that make fun of him or track his jet, immediately unbans literal Nazis]

 

[nevin]

Unless, apparently, you're talking about cis- anything. It's things like this that make me deeply suspicious he's really about free speech and open inquiry. He's about freeing HIS preferred kind of speech and the kinds preferred by his sycophants, none of which are particularly introspective or welcoming of points of view/speech that elicit those lines of inquiry. His self-justifications about buying Twitter to combat the wokeness he blames for his trans daughter's disapproval of him are fairly revealing of his real thoughts on freedom of sp

In fairness he does seem to have some real skills with startups. Move fast and break stuff can be a functional approach when you're trying to establish a concept and a business. He seems significantly less adept at running an established business and making or keeping it profitable.


[immediately bans accounts that make fun of him or track his jet, immediately unbans literal Nazis]

Oh he's definitely two faced, plays one set of rules for him and one set for everyone else. he also is the Mythical Version of an internet Troll. He simply does things to light fires and then dances around them like a primordial Ape while they burn.

 

[Willie the Duck]

In fairness he does seem to have some real skills with startups. Move fast and break stuff can be a functional approach when you're trying to establish a concept and a business. He seems significantly less adept at running an established business and making or keeping it profitable.

Oh, yes, let's be clear on that. Musk has some very notable and incredible talents -- and not just salesmanship. He's done (substantive) things to increase his wealth. My primary point was that he's a very traditional success story of someone well-ensconced in the plutocrasphere, not that the emperor has no clothes*.
*But as others have pointed out, there has been some over-extrapolation from the emperor having clothes to that he should then be listened to as an expert in tailoring, or to somehow being able to do 5-dimensional clotheswearing his way to success in pursuits unrelated to lack of nudity (and now I'm truly sorry for where this analogy went).

 

[AnotherGuy]

Personally, I am fascinated by the notion that Musk somehow isn't the Corporatocrasy somehow.

I'd be happy to insert the word other

 

[Umbran]

I never followed or indeed follow Musk's career. My issue is, if he was as bad as the MSM are currently saying he is (current = since his acquisition of Twitter), logically he would have been terrible before. So, my question would be, why was he propped up/celebrated before his Twitter acquisition by the media? Why wasn't this supposed ineloquent buffoon outed much earlier?

I think that, if you look, you'll find that large chunks of media were actually questioning his genius rather earlier than that.

But, your question still stands. Part of it is simple - most of his employees are laden with non-disparagement clauses in their contracts. Even early customers of Tesla had such riders in their service contracts. So getting a clear signal of what went on inside his previous companies was not easy.

When he stepped in on Twitter, though, he was doing so incredibly publicly, on an application that has millions and millions of users, and whose financial success is advertising based. There were too many people watching to hide.

It also doesn't hurt that, prior to Musk, a great many reporters used Twitter as part of their investigative work. So, honestly, this was the first point at which folks within the media were materially impacted by Musk's management. When the story impacts people who report the stories, well, the story becomes more clear.

 

[Parmandur]

One of my favorite "rich guys are smart until they're not" stories involves the Hunt Brothers.

Convinced that fiat currency was on the way out (history may not repeat, but it does rhyme!) they decided to corner the silver market. Which worked great! Using the inherited wealth of their father (a billionaire), along with aggressive margin positions, they managed to acquire a decent portion of the world's supply of silver ... I think it was over 1/4 ... driving the price up nearly eightfold in a year.

Unfortunately, it didn't last. And fiat currency managed to stick around. The price started to collapse, and the Hunts were wiped out. Contrary to the old saying, the bankruptcy happened quickly, and all at once.

Good Lord, looking into that, over 2/3 of the world's Silver...in futures. That came to roost.

 

[Morrus]

I was going to pop in to say that the 'ratings failure' of Doctor Who's first special's final UK figures have been released and they're 7.61m. But then I saw this is now the Elon Musk thread, so I'll back away quietly.