# Elon “ Ready to serve” **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 20, 2024, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939 "2024-08-20T11:31:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/41 "2024-08-23T18:02:44Z")
Musk is part of the Dark Enlightenment crew. He sees Trump as a tool to help him destroy the current system of government. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/42 "2024-08-23T18:15:55Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Few things are as much fun as watching _two_ self-promoting narcissists fighting for attention. But what happens when they simultaneously point fingers at one another and shout “You’re fired!” By the time Musk is ready to do that, trump may well be surprised to find out the government belongs to Musk and has for a few months now. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/43 "2024-08-23T18:53:39Z")
I distinctly remember pundits back in the day lamenting Kissinger’s ineligibility. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/44 "2024-08-23T19:29:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > By the time Musk is ready to do that, trump may well be surprised to find out the government belongs to Musk and has for a few months now. Musk thinks he’s a genius who will outsmart everyone else and be running things within a month. Trump also thinks he’s a genius who will outsmart everyone else and be running things within a month. The reality is that both are complete fuckups who wouldn’t be able to hold a job at a McDonalds if left to their own resources. The only reason either man appears successful is because they were handed millions of dollars by their fathers. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/45 "2024-08-23T20:55:39Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > Musk is part of the Dark Enlightenment crew. This type of thinking explained here: > **[Why Some Billionaires Are Actively Trying To Destroy The World](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQmoQEeNYrs%2F)** > > Visit http://www.brilliant.org/answerswithjoe to start your 30-day free trial, and the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription.Th... > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Musk thinks he’s a genius who will outsmart everyone else and be running things within a month. I’m sure this is true. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/46 "2024-08-26T16:08:30Z")
Yes, that was why I specifically mentioned Edison. Like Edison, he is an inventor who hires people smarter than him in specific technologies to create new things. I don’t think this is a bad thing. I suppose you could say he’s taking the credit for their work, although I’d argue its technically the companies they work for getting the credit for the inventions. I understand Elon Musk isn’t well liked on this board, but unless it’s because his views are anti-left, I’m not sure why. He and the companies he has led/been a part of have changed the world several times already, and most of those times the change was for the better. Here’s a few examples: **Paypal:** Made secure online payment a reality during a time when the Internet was the Wild West (Elon had a smaller role in a collaborative effort on this one). **Tesla:** Showed the world’s auto manufacturers that electric cars were not only wanted by their customers but were also the future of their industry. **Starlink:** Provided fast Internet access to rural areas at a reasonable price when other companies deemed it far too expensive. **SpaceX:** Proved rockets could be reusable and orbital launches could be far less wasteful. **Twitter/X:** I realize this one is controversial but if we judge him by his stated intent, he was intending to create a popular, politically neutral platform. I’m not sure he succeeded, and he certainly made mistakes, but the goal was admirable. That’s four significant positive changes to the world. Maybe we would have gotten secure online payment in about the same timeframe without Elon. The others I’m more doubtful; I’m not sure we would have seen them in my lifetime. Can the lefties on this board not see a net positive here? Or can they only see good from those who agree with them? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/47 "2024-08-26T16:13:50Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > I understand Elon Musk isn’t well liked on this board, but unless it’s because his views are anti-left, I’m not sure why. Isn’t that a sufficient reason to not like someone? I also don’t like Lindsay Graham, Ted Cruz and MTG. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/48 "2024-08-26T16:15:43Z")
Wait, what did Elon Musk “create” when he bought Twitter? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/49 "2024-08-26T16:16:53Z")
A huge mess ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/50 "2024-08-26T16:17:44Z")
I was listing changes to the world. My point was he’s 4 for 5, a net positive. Four good changes to the world, one negative/neutral. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/51 "2024-08-26T16:48:30Z")
You forgot: **Hyperloop:** gadgetbahn of long history (last remake of the Victorian “atmospheric railways”!), questionable feasibility (how do you do an emergency stop, as with a sudden loss of pressure, without turning the passengers into salsa?) never mind practicality (“pods” the size of small buses), and definite political hinky-ness (Musk admitted he proposed it to kill off political will for California high-speed rail). **Boring Company:** tunnels for cheaper! Achieved with smaller tunnel-boring machines than those used for trains and large vehicles, because the intended users of Musk’s tunnels are car-sized “pods” again rather than the economies of scale of something train (ick! ick!)-sized. It’s one “achievement” being serving the Las Vegas Convention Center with chauffeur-driven (can’t trust his own autopilot even in closed tunnels with no cross-traffic, pedestrians, etc.!) Teslas. The usual airport monorail is more useful: you can walk on and off, rolling your luggage with you. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/52 "2024-08-26T17:00:43Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > **Twitter/X:** I realize this one is controversial but if we judge him by his stated intent, he was intending to create a popular, politically neutral platform. I’m not sure he succeeded, and he certainly made mistakes, but the goal was admirable. Only if one actually believes his stated goal was his real goal. Me, I believe in “You shall know them by their fruit.” He took a politically-neutral platform that far-right-wingers hated for moderating hate speech and lies as any other well-moderated forum does, accepted funding from the Saudis who associate old-school Twitter with the Arab Spring and wanted to kill its usefulness for any possible Saudi Spring, allowed users to buy blue-checkmarks so they were useless for determining whether a purported public figure or celebrity was really him/herself, and started spouting or retweeting hateful material on his own account. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/53 "2024-08-26T17:10:07Z")
Plus blocking political posts he disagreed with. His concept of “free speech” is rather Orwellian. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/54 "2024-08-26T17:17:44Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > **Twitter/X:** I realize this one is controversial but if we judge him by his stated intent, he was intending to create a popular, politically neutral platform. I’m not sure he succeeded, and he certainly made mistakes, but the goal was admirable. This is a truly astonishing take on it. Surely it is completely obvious to everyone now that Musk’s objective was to create a home for hate on the internet, and he has succeeded in that beyond the wildest dreams of bigots. If you think this is accidental then you must believe that whatever acumen drove his prior successes have either evaporated or those successes were not his doing (I don’t believe the latter). ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/55 "2024-08-26T17:27:46Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > **Twitter/X:** I realize this one is controversial but if we judge him by his stated intent, he was intending to create a popular, politically neutral platform. Absurd; a popular, politically neutral platform already existed, called “Twitter”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/56 "2024-08-26T17:35:56Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > **Boring Company:** tunnels for cheaper! Achieved with smaller tunnel-boring machines than those used for trains and large vehicles, because the intended users of Musk’s tunnels are car-sized “pods” again rather than the economies of scale of something train (ick! ick!)-sized. It’s one “achievement” being serving the Las Vegas Convention Center with chauffeur-driven (can’t trust his own autopilot even in closed tunnels with no cross-traffic, pedestrians, etc.!) Teslas. The usual airport monorail is more useful: you can walk on and off, rolling your luggage with you. In terms of a company that builds or uses tunnel boring machines, I don’t see that anything innovative has been done. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/57 "2024-08-26T18:00:56Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > Yes, that was why I specifically mentioned Edison. Like Edison, he is an inventor who hires people smarter than him in specific technologies to create new things. I don’t think this is a bad thing. I suppose you could say he’s taking the credit for their work, although I’d argue its technically the companies they work for getting the credit for the inventions. No, he personally has taken credit for many things others have done and/or grossly exaggerated his actual contributions. And you left off the whole “smear campaign” bit. **Tesla** - You’re correct that the company moved the Overton window on electric cars. But he also made the company itself an abusive and dangerous place to work and then turned it into a laughingstock. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/58 "2024-08-26T21:11:12Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > **Twitter/X:** I realize this one is controversial but if we judge him by his stated intent, he was intending to create a popular, politically neutral platform. I’m not sure he succeeded, and he certainly made mistakes, but the goal was admirable. There is nothing controversial about this. It’s straightforward bullshit. He had no designs on a politically neutral platform. He bought a perfectly good (as those things go) product and turned it into platform of hate-speech. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/59 "2024-08-26T21:16:14Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > **Paypal:** Made secure online payment a reality during a time when the Internet was the Wild West (Elon had a smaller role in a collaborative effort on this one). If by “smaller role” you mean “they fired him because he tried to run the company into the ground”, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939/60 "2024-08-26T21:42:31Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > I really don’t understand why Elon is a Trump supporter. Three basic reasons. First, his daughter is trans. At first, he was okay with this, even helping her get hormones. But his daughter would call him out for bad actions, and he got mad, and started blaming it on her being trans. From there, he gets on the TERF to alt right pipeline. Second, he’s always had some white supremacist views, carried over from living in South Africa during Apartheid. He mostly kept them fairly secret at first, because admitting them was bad. But, due to the above and the below, he’s let loose. And that means only the alt-right would have him. And the third thing is that he’s a grifter. He was only pretending to be liberal because those were the audience he was appealing to. He actually has no actual opinion on a lot of political issues. Hence why he flip flops. When the left turned on him as he became more openly hateful, he found a new audience with Trump supporters, Kissing Trump’s ass makes him popular with them. The dude probably did have some desire to change the world at some point. But primarily out of ego, not altruism, so the facade crumbled over time. Now the only people feeding his ego are the Trumpists. So he supports Trump. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-ready-to-serve/1005939.md?page=4)