19 Comments
Sep 25Liked by Steven Beschloss

It’s funny (in an unamusing way) that you could close your eyes and substitute the name Trump for Musk in this really important review you both gave on Elon Musk, X and fascist information platform pollution. I did leave Twitter when he purchased it and I immediately saw some of the most racist comments and lies about Covid that anyone could ever even concoct in a highly fevered dream. But you both make the very excellent point that ceding territory to someone this evil in his intent to misinform millions of people right before the most critical election of our lifetimes is probably not the way to go. Although I sure count on you both to have bigger platforms and more astute commentary to inject into the conversation than I. Thank you for these important conversations. I look forward to them every week. ‘Darkness can’t drive out darkness. Only light can do that’. Thank you both for being the light. ☮️

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Thanks for your thoughtful words, Joanie.

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Sep 25Liked by Steven Beschloss

That our government is so tied at the navel with this megalomaniac is truly frightening to me. Apparently so are many other governments as well. I either read or heard that now Russia can utilize Musk’s Starlink array to paint Ukraine’s fighter planes. How could Russia have access to Starlink unless it either hacked into it or Musk gave them permission. Neither should we forget that Elon at first gave Ukraine use of Starlink but broke it off at a critical juncture in the war. It was then that we began paying the S.O.B. via the DoD so Ukraine would have uninterrupted access. I won’t even mention our thick ties with Musk and our space program. There are so many dangers in this sick relationship as it currently stands that need a radical overhaul; the sooner, the better.

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You are far too graciouis and abundantly generous where Musk is considered. I have crude depictions for the transplanted Afrikaner. He believes his insane wealth has afforded him the right to soundblask his bull shite out to the world. Spoiled litte (well, not so little) rich kid without guard rails. The sad fact about the ruper rich is how they can purchase their own publicity at the expense of the rest of us.

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His wealth is the means but I wonder if his elitism comes from the technocratic view.

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/technocracy-incorporated-elon-musk/

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Sep 25Liked by Steven Beschloss

Thank you guys!

And thank you for staying on Twitter! I often retweet you….//

If you reach just one person with the Truth, it’s worth it….///

Trying to advocate for Truth is important!

Bless you!

💙💙🇺🇸💙💙

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Thx!

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Sep 25Liked by Steven Beschloss

Sadly, emotional intelligence (EQ) is not a given with the ultra-rich; in fact, it is likely the exception. The “first cause” of high EQ is empathy, and the bedrock of empathy is love of the self, characterized by one’s capacity for unconditional love. The main blocker to expression of unconditional love is self-loathing, the inability to come to terms with one’s Shadow, the part of the unconscious mind that contains the things we repress, such as qualities or desires that we find unacceptable or harmful. Though difficult to imagine feeling compassion for such individuals, the person with high EQ is able to feel compassion while standing against aberrant and destructive behavior.

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I’m not so sure he believes emotional intelligence is necessary — unless it is a tool to get his way.

If you look at the history of his grandfather, Haldeman, his writings and beliefs they are strikingly similar. Technocracy in CAN, then apartheid in South Africa with conspiracy theories about Jews, national health insurance, World Government and so on.

The Technocracy movement — https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/technocracy-incorporated-elon-musk/

Some other beliefs he & his grandfather (who died when Musk was very young) share -

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-world-according-to-elon-musks-grandfather

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Sep 25·edited Sep 25Liked by Steven Beschloss

Where to even begin? Well, in the first place, an outlet with a global reach, one that is still a virtual monopoly, should not be owned by any single individual regardless of his or her leanings. I suppose, though, that even as bigoted an individual as Musk is within his legal rights to buy Twitter (X) and to turn it into a disgraceful travesty of itself.

I certainly agree with Mark and you, Steven: we need to stay on Twitter at least until the elections are over to try to counter the dangerous lies that Musk is disseminating on behalf of Trump.

Here's a question for Musk and the other rightwing bigots with technical savvy but no emotional intelligence or sense of enlightenment: do they really think that they are going to be safe from Trump's clutches if he were to be elected? What do they think is going to stop this megalomaniac from seizing their assets for himself? Haven't they heard of Putin and the band of oligarchs he commands at his will?

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Musk's picture appears on X more than trump's. Talk about narcissism !! I often reply to his comments. Three times he has followed me, twice he has liked my reply. He often shows his mother so I wrote: Your pretty mother should be ashamed of you for taking the stands and uttering the crap you have been noted for these past months. Stick to Tesla & Starlink. He liked that ! Another, he appeared with the typical blonde bimbo, so I wrote: How much younger? Does she own a sweater? Does she like money? He liked that ! Kind of weird to have the world's richest person follow you. Especially when what I do is insult him.

Since trump only has eyes for trump, I am sure he promises Musk a position in his administration if he wins, only to get his money.

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Both of you know full well what the solution must be for these kind of attacks against this country. There must be a way around the feckless lack of leadership in this area that allows it to continue. There must be an offer that can’t be refused made to these kind of guys. There is a time and place for everything. This solution’s time is past over due.

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Sep 26Liked by Steven Beschloss

I’m still on Twitter (not X) to help counter all the bad stuff being peddled there, by Musk and so many others.

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Sep 26Liked by Steven Beschloss

Brazil was aɓle to currtail Musk's social media in the courts. We cannot even bring a man with untold charges(lost count) to court.

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Musk is cut from the same cloth as his grandfather Haldeman: elitism, racism, anti-Semitism and a power seeking, meandering ideology if any.

Haldeman was a Technocrat. He belonged to a “quasi-fascistic” technocracy organization. An organization that believed society should be run by scientists, technical specialists & data. Its supporters claim using science & data removes bias. I maintain that where you have humans, you have bias, whether they hide behind science or not.

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/technocracy-incorporated-elon-musk/

(For context, the old Soviet Union has been called a technocracy. Leonid Brezhnev was an engineer & the Politburo was almost 90% engineers.) The CAN group was outlawed; as a leader he was briefly jailed. He also was the national chairman of a Canadian anti-Semitic organization. After relocating to South Africa his writings reveal an avid supporter of apartheid. “The facts of history show that the White man has always developed the country he inhabits to the benefit of all concerned.”

He attacked every group who did not agree: all forms of media for lies and brainwashing, Jews, Blacks; warning against everything from International Conspiracy in Health (national health insurance, fluoride, vaccinations); World Government — anti-Christian and infringements on “human liberties.”

Sounds a lot like Musk who runs X as a technocrat controlling who and what is seen.

I would compare X to Truth Social - privately owned platforms that lose money but boost the owners’ agendas. Haldeman didn’t have those tools available.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-world-according-to-elon-musks-grandfather

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One thing is clear: the Founders who wrote the First Amendment had no capacity to guess that things like Xitter could ever happen. The exceptions to it truly fail to deal with this stuff. This is particularly true with the rise of stochastic terrorism--and it seems clear that a lot of what Musk has the CLEAR capacity to promote.

How to combat intentional misinformation? I sometimes think that what we need is some wildly popular game show like Jeopardy that is based on the contestants' ability to spot and refute specific misinformation promoted by specific people. Maybe if someone could win a million dollars for putting the damn eaten pets to a definitive rest would make people pay attention. "Coming soon to your town, a chance to be on the program" might set people to paying attention to fact checking.

Short of that it is going to remain a conundrum.

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Sounds like a great idea to develop critical thinking.

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It is what Elon Musk is, an information polluter and a propaganda spreader. What makes it worse, he does it on his own media, the very place he should stay out of and protect it from exactly these type actions. It is not smart of him, I am pretty sure some around him must have told him so, but in many ways he is like Trump and it is probably part of his character. I am still using X but I am more than ready to move on.

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As I had mentioned on Mark’s site, there was a time I was enthusiastic for all the engineering feats (Tesla, Space X, underground train system) being realized under the direction of Musk. This kept me hopeful for the creative endeavors and possibilities for solving some of the worlds perplexing problems. Then, Musk had to involve himself in politics… This has disheartened my views not only about him, but, the various projects he has undertaken. Perhaps, some day, others will take over these ventures, and my once delight in the imagined can be rekindled. I am hopeful.

Thank you, Steven. (And, Mark again)

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