# Why America was founded (Elon Musk rant) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** elon-musk\ **Created:** [December 20, 2024, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917 "2024-12-20T13:49:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/21 "2024-12-20T19:54:43Z")
> [@Eric1](#): > > At my job, the HR trainer used to have portraits of he, Simone Biles, Mariah Carey and Steven Hawking because they had lived with disabilities and were successful. What disability does Musk have? I just read his page on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk), and the closest I could come was > [@](#): > > While hosting _[Saturday Night Live](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live)_ in 2021, Musk stated that he has [Asperger syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome), although he has never been medically diagnosed.[[560]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk#cite_note-564)[[561]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk#cite_note-565) If undiagnosed, then I call bullshit. Actually, what disabilities do Simone Biles and Mariah Carey have? Extreme cuteness? (OK, I just checked Wiki. Biles has (diagnosed) ADHD; Carey is bi-polar (diagnosed). Biles admitted the ADHD after her medical records were made public; she’s never denied it but absolutely doesn’t use it as an excuse for anything. I do now remember Carey having rather public issues. Definitely give them both credit for their success. I’m sorry, but self-diagnosis for mental issues is worth the paper it’s written on. ) ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/22 "2024-12-20T20:40:06Z")
Yes Elon’s claim of disability sounds bogus and the venue he chose gave him no cred at all. ---
**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:** [December 21, 2024, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/23 "2024-12-21T02:46:01Z")
That should be, " invertebrates that have _de_volved into the nasty slimey ones they are today". ---
**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:** [December 21, 2024, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/24 "2024-12-21T02:52:56Z")
Is sociopathy a disability? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/25 "2024-12-21T02:55:44Z")
Ethically handicapped? ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/26 "2024-12-21T03:44:54Z")
I’m laughing so hard right now; those lines are worth sharing for sure! ---
**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:** [December 21, 2024, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/27 "2024-12-21T03:57:32Z")
> [@glee](#): > > In case you haven’t noticed, Republicans who disagree with Trump find a MAGA candidate running against them in the next Primary… All but 38 Republicans in the House voted to keep the government open without abolishing the debt ceiling. Is Elmo gonna fund 190 primaries, or is he gonna backpedal? My money’s on the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/28 "2024-12-21T09:41:50Z")
[![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:y4zs4cabaezzwx3bz2e5nnj2/bafkreicdwfdebw3hp6aoxwioveonurdywxddi3uge5dmn2btiliar3naje@png) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:y4zs4cabaezzwx3bz2e5nnj2/bafkreicdwfdebw3hp6aoxwioveonurdywxddi3uge5dmn2btiliar3naje@png) A rant thread seemed the right place to put this. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/29 "2024-12-21T18:19:41Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Is Elmo gonna fund 190 primaries, or is he gonna backpedal? He can afford it for sure, but will he maintain focus? In two years, he might be deep into his plan to move the pyramids to Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/30 "2024-12-21T21:18:09Z")
I don’t think Musk will be able to keep himself sufficiently in Trump’s shadow to satisfy Trump. I’ve been seeing rants about President Musk did this and that, and now Jimmy Fallon has coined the couple’s name **#Elonald**. I think that’ll end the honeymoon. ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/31 "2024-12-25T00:56:58Z")
We should go one step further and start referring to Trump as _The Mouth of Elon._ ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/32 "2024-12-25T01:24:01Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > “Merciless Indian savages?” Native Americans, mostly not living in centralized states, did not practice warfare the “civilized” way; as in politely attacking only uniformed soldiers according to “laws of war” and leaving non-combatants like women and children alone. Instead they (quite sensibly by the standards of semi-nomadic tribesmen) waged war by guerilla tactics. “Civilized” war by 18th-century European standards meant organized armies seeking the defeat and surrender of organized armies because they could then hold hostage the civilian populace and the farms that were the basis of almost all material wealth. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/33 "2024-12-25T01:33:17Z")
> [@glee](#): > > King George III Didn’t he have some mental illness that kept him from actually being in charge? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/34 "2024-12-25T01:38:41Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > > The United States was founded because a bunch of rich White guys didn’t want to pay their fair share of taxes. > > They didn’t mind paying taxes. They just wanted a say in how they were governed which doesn’t sound unreasonable. Specifically, the Americans discovered to their horror that they were on the wrong end of a colonial/imperial relationship. As the ultimate sovereign of the Empire (the royal fiction not withstanding) Parliament could in theory enact _ **anything** _, limited only by the consciences of the m.p.'s. Unlike in Britain where for example the [Cider Bill of 1763 - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cider_Bill_of_1763#) sparked riots, voting to tax the colonies would not risk any member of Parliament their seat. This would have inevitably meant the colonies ending up becoming the Empire’s “milch cow”. It wasn’t just the money, it was the idea of being more or less helpless subjects that the colonials objected to. The English were traditionally VERY touchy on that subject; it was the same issue over which the barons had forced John to sign the Magna Carta, Charles had ended up beheaded, and James overthrown. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/35 "2024-12-25T01:58:15Z")
The Straight Dope: Learn something every day, like it or not. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2024, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/36 "2024-12-25T02:45:09Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Didn’t he have some mental illness that kept him from actually being in charge It wasn’t until much later that his son had to take over for him. > **[Regency era](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regency_era)** > > The Regency era of British history is commonly understood as the years between c. 1795 and 1837, although the official regency for which it is named only spanned the years 1811 to 1820. King George III first suffered debilitating illness in the late 1780s, and relapsed into his final mental illness in 1810. By the Regency Act 1811, his eldest son George, Prince of Wales, was appointed Prince Regent to discharge royal functions. When George III died in 1820, the Prince Regent succeeded him as G... ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/37 "2024-12-25T03:18:48Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > as in politely attacking only uniformed soldiers according to “laws of war” and leaving non-combatants like women and children alone… > > “Civilized” war by 18th-century European standards meant organized armies seeking the defeat and surrender of organized armies because they could then hold hostage the civilian populace and the farms that were the basis of almost all material wealth. To be fair that was a pretty hypocritical line, conveniently forgetting all the many times American colonists had cheerfully slaughtered native women and children. For example the [Mystic massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_massacre) was arguably retaliatory, but no less bloody for it. In 19th century that fine Methodist pastor John “Nits Make Lice” Chivington didn’t even have that excuse. People are people and many people turn pretty shitty when they go to war. “Civilized” Europeans were no exception. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917/38 "2024-12-25T04:47:02Z")
18th C. warfare, as it followed the Thirty Years War where 20,000 inhabitants of Magdeburg were slaughtered and tossed into the Elbe, or Cromwell’s massacre at Drogheda in Ireland, was considered more restricted and professional. But only by the comparison to that incredibly bloody 17th Century. The practice of killing everyone in a fortified city that refused to surrender was still common. And after Culloden, the English killed every Scots male in the vicinity with pubic hair under his kilt. Both sides committed atrocities in the Peninsular War in Spain, with Goya recording those done by the French. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-america-was-founded-elon-musk-rant/1011917.md?page=1)