Elon Musk buying Twitter exposes the great divide

Bretrick said:
How does spending $44 billion on a social network site benefit mankind?
I find it disgraceful that so much money is controlled by so few people.
$44 billion to fritter away?
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Those billions are largely borrowed or extracted from Musks equity in Tesla. Outrageous? Well Tesla is a world leader in the electric car domain, something that took many billions to develop and build, and has probably generated billions in taxes. So what to do? Forbid the development, or maybe we should have told Musk not to develop that damn car and give the few million that got it started to humanity? If all those bucks that were used to develop the automobile industry, our railroads, aircraft, and a myriad other industries were instead given to humanity we would be so much better off — or would we?
 

Elon Musk has far too much power because of all his billions of dollars. Money can buy a lot of influence in Washington. Now he has even more power because he controls a major communications platform, and he's spreading misinformation, which is harmful to our democracy. Low information voters latch onto crazy conspiracy theories and determine our leaders by voting based not on reality but on an alternate reality. It's bad for democracy, but a lot of people these days don't seem to have a problem with that.
 

Personally, I have always liked Elon Musk. I feel some sort of affinity with this person (no, nothing to do with money) only his ideas, his vision.
I have no idea what happened with that tweet about Nancy Pelosi’s husband…could it have been accidentally shared? Who knows? I don’t and you don’t either and the media slanderers do not know either. It has been deleted, let’s see what happens in the future. I do not judge, especially without a full explanation.

No, Musk is not racist. At 17 years of age he left South Africa because he would have been drafted into the corrupt SANDF that existed at that time. He is fiercely anti-apartheid (like his father, who belonged to the anti-apartheid Progressive Party)…in S. Africa, his friends were black and he was shamefully ostracised because of this. Furthermore, he is not anti-Semitic.
It seems to me, the mantra is: if you don’t understand someone or something, beat the stuffing out of them!
 
SeniorBen said:
Elon Musk has far too much power because of all his billions of dollars. Money can buy a lot of influence in Washington. Now he has even more power because he controls a major communications platform, and he's spreading misinformation, which is harmful to our democracy. Low information voters latch onto crazy conspiracy theories and determine our leaders by voting based not on reality but on an alternate reality. It's bad for democracy, but a lot of people these days don't seem to have a problem with that.
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Well said and true.
 
I don’t “tweet” and have no interest in learning how to, but Elon Musk and his wealth and actions are so far beyond my comprehension and understanding I don’t even try. And if it all somehow “trickles down” to affect my life, I don’t think there is anything I could do about it.
 
SeniorBen said:
Elon Musk has far too much power because of all his billions of dollars. Money can buy a lot of influence in Washington. Now he has even more power because he controls a major communications platform, and he's spreading misinformation, which is harmful to our democracy. Low information voters latch onto crazy conspiracy theories and determine our leaders by voting based not on reality but on an alternate reality. It's bad for democracy, but a lot of people these days don't seem to have a problem with that.
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I strongly agree...this says it all.

Spreading misinformation has consequences that most definitely affects us all, it opens the floodgates of evil.
 
Lotsa talk about "misinformation". Problem with it is that what you think is misinformation, is what someone else thinks is gospel truth, and vice versa. So we are all better off to not censor what it said, and let us us our own common sense to determine what we think is "gospel truth" and what we think is "horse pucky". (And please, don't fall into the trap of saying those who disagree with you have no common sense and must be "protected"...)
 
Jamala said:
I have no idea what happened with that tweet about Nancy Pelosi’s husband…could it have been accidentally shared? Who knows? I don’t and you don’t either and the media slanderers do not know either. It has been deleted, let’s see what happens in the future. I do not judge, especially without a full explanation.
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Not so fast. I do know and, with almost 113 million Musk followers, the barn door being shut after the horse has bolted comes to mind.
 
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Don't have or use Twitter. Don't have or use face book. As social media goes this site is pretty much it.

So my input is about how Twitter/Elon Musk affects me personally. Can I change the outcome ? No. I don't notice any of his business activities affecting me financially, physically or emotionally. What he does with his money is his business.

But out of curiosity who that posts here have been harmed financially, physically or emotionally? Emotionally to the point of not being able to get out of bed.
 
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SeniorBen said:
Elon Musk has far too much power because of all his billions of dollars. Money can buy a lot of influence in Washington. Now he has even more power because he controls a major communications platform, and he's spreading misinformation, which is harmful to our democracy. Low information voters latch onto crazy conspiracy theories and determine our leaders by voting based not on reality but on an alternate reality. It's bad for democracy, but a lot of people these days don't seem to have a problem with that.
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Spreading misinformation? Like what? A quote please. As for our democracy, the essence of democracy is freedom of speech, and that means all lawful speech, not just that with which you agree.
 
Pepper said:
Silly criteria @Knight. I don't belong to Twitter either, but there is so much talking about it and quoting it that I feel as if I do.
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Silly for you to judge the criteria I use to decide how I think about an issue. I begin with can I change the outcome, then the other. The other being affecting me financially, physically or emotionally.

Last was a question.

Out of curiosity who that posts here have been harmed financially, physically or emotionally.

Since you took the time to respond maybe you would post how what Elon Musk does with his money affects you personally.
 
Knight said:
Silly for you to judge the criteria I use to decide how I think about an issue. I begin with can I change the outcome, then the other. The other being affecting me financially, physically or emotionally.

Last was a question.

Out of curiosity who that posts here have been harmed financially, physically or emotionally.

Since you took the time to respond maybe you would post how what Elon Musk does with his money affects you personally.
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Let's just leave it as me being silly. :geek:
 
Knight said:
Silly for you to judge the criteria I use to decide how I think about an issue. I begin with can I change the outcome, then the other. The other being affecting me financially, physically or emotionally.

Last was a question.

Out of curiosity who that posts here have been harmed financially, physically or emotionally.

Since you took the time to respond maybe you would post how what Elon Musk does with his money affects you personally.
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Most non-Jewish Germans not living in Berlin or Dresden during the '30s and '40s weren't directly affected by Hitler's actions, so that's not really a good barometer.

I have more to say about that, but I have some work to do. I'll continue with that thought later.
 
ElCastor said:
The former management of Twitter leaned to the Left. Elon Musk is very likely a conservative and promoter of free speech. Thus the hatred and name calling.
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Man what a lopsided comment. Maybe some people "hate" Musk, but that is NOT THE ISSUE! Hate one side...hate the other side, who will be the power masters. Really. This isn't about personalities, or whether people are for free speech. Like some people would rather be told what not to say. If it is misinformation, the likes of which has never been as far reaching as it is now, you would prefer a mass media giant that hosts out right lies...of which the noose of justice is quickly bringing to the courts. Then we will all see who has the clothes on.
 
I am on Twitter and find it a source of quite a good deal of amusement. It also opens a window to a world that I do not experience in person. In a way it is a source of education and that is both its benefit and its danger. I've never seen Parler but I understand that it is quite toxic and the dark web is even worse.

As long as Twitter does not cross the line that I set in the sand for decency I will continue to participate. My line is where it is used to encourage violence against individuals or any class of people such as women, civic leaders, the LGBQT community, people of colour or members of any faith groups.

Lying is everywhere these days. It is up to each of us to recognise the lies and the liars just as we learn to identify the scammers who try to deceive us. I had one of the latter try to get my bank details just yesterday. If I had believed the man on the other end of the phone I would be a poorer woman today.

I have never believed in "my country, right or wrong" nor that one side of politics is pure and the other side is evil. Any group comprised of people suffers from the same moral flaws that have always been found in all of us. All we can do is try to be true to our higher ideals, one of which is to seek and find the truth.

Elon Musk is not a saint because he is successful, nor is he the devil incarnate. He is but a man with more money than most. Twitter is not his creation and we have yet to see what he will use it for. I suspect it is to make more money but he doesn't seem to be going about that the right way.

I could be wrong about that. I know Sweet Fanny Adams about making money.
 
The recent mergers of massive corporations is very troubling to me. When so much money/power is consolidated in a few massive corporations, they buy political influence. It has happened that corporations have run the country and told people what to do ( in Europe awhile back ). If we allow these mass mergers and acquisitions to continue, we are going to be controlled in all most ALL aspects of our lives. It is happening now. Democracy is not. Plutocracy IS. Just like global warming, we will keep doing nothing until it is too little too late.
 
SeniorBen said:
Most non-Jewish Germans not living in Berlin or Dresden during the '30s and '40s weren't directly affected by Hitler's actions, so that's not really a good barometer.

I have more to say about that, but I have some work to do. I'll continue with that thought later.
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Key in my post is this

Quote from my post.
"how I think about an issue."

How other think is part of their life experiences. I don't consider wealth or the accumulation of wealth or what anyone else does with their wealth any of my concern unless it directly affects me in the ways I posted.

Elon Musk & the business models that built his wealth also contribute to the well being of others. But when envy of what another has achieved takes over that is on them.
 

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