Trouble in Griftopia

Happiness must be earned

Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future quit rather than take assignment to visit Elon Musk (2022)

Musk, the world’s richest man, is also perhaps its most dangerous promoter of hatred

In Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film Dr Strangelove, the world teeters on the edge of nuclear annihilation, not because of some grand strategic masterstroke by a villain, but due to paranoia, hubris and the failure to interrogate our own assumptions. The war room is filled with men so consumed by ideology and self-interest that they can’t see the absurdity of their actions. Today, this same toxic cocktail of arrogance and fear is magnified by the wildfire spread of misinformation on social media, moving unobstructed and unchecked across platforms, fuelling division and paranoia on an unprecedented scale.

If Dr Strangelove taught us anything, it’s that human folly and fear often pose a greater threat than any external enemy. The conspiratorial reaction to the Magdeburg Christmas attack, where far-right commentators clung to absurd theories about hidden Islamist motives, shows how easily paranoia supplants reality. This kind of thinking doesn’t just warp the truth; it also deepens divisions and sows the seeds of society’s collapse. (...)

 kurtster wrote:




this is why people think you are dumb.

 kurtster wrote:
Soros is Jewish and has contributed to liberal causes while Musk is cozying up with the German far right AfD Party with neo-Nazi ties. So there’s that.

Approve what you will.

 islander wrote: 
So you approve of Soros ?

George Soros doesn't have the Billions Musk has, and he also doesn't have Technology contracts with the U.S. Government. There is nothing level in a field where an unelected man can actually advise a President about policy that could benefit his own profit.  Here's a run down of the inequality just based on finances:
Musk Net Worth: $439 BILLION
Soros Net worth: $7.2 BILLION

Soros didn't personally buy advertising for or against a candidate to play in different regions of the country like Musk did.
Elon Musk was the largest donor in the 2024 election cycle, spending at least $277 million to back President-elect Donald Trump.

Soros is also not a fan of shutting the Government down, while Musk has said 'go for it.'

 kurtster wrote:

this is why people think you are dumb.

 R_P wrote: 
Heh.  We finally have someone who can counter Soros.

So now the playing field is a little bit more level.

The King of Dunning-Kruger

As long as it's not Soros, right?

The man is a psychopath.

 Red_Dragon wrote:

Michael Lewis has addressed the subject of government employees doing things that no one knows about. His book, The Coming Storm, talks about the National Weather Service and how it's under attack by people who get their weather info from AccuWeather et al, so why do we need the NWS? 

This podcast episode that I've linked to before talks about one guy whose work would never have been done by a private sector worker, but has saved a lot of lives. tl;dr: cutting jobs they don't understand = lives lost.
The Art of the Untold Story

stochastic terrorist

TESCREAL