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0 pointsFloorEgg1y ago0 comments

100% same re the pedo tweet.

Though sometimes I remember how just about everyone in my life that I love, respect and have spent a lot of time with has said something stupid, insecure, distasteful or offensive at some point. Everyone makes mistakes and says or does something out of character when they are at their worst. The difference with Elon is that so much of what he says is so public.

Some of my friends who are extremely anti-Elon biased will say things like " as a CEO of a company he shouldn't be so public about his opinions", and I don't get why they feel that way. I ask inquisitively and I never get a clear logical answer that doesn't resemble something like "because I don't like his opinions".

However, as far as I can tell their opinions of his opinions is based on some article they read, and not from a long-form conversation or statement where all the nuance and context of his opinions is included.

It seems like people's opinion of Elon has everything to do with what information they have, and what information they have has everything to do with where they are getting it. Some people have listened to the podcast interviews Elon has been on and have a more in-depth grasp of his stances on things with all the nuance, and some people only read articles about an outrageous tweet he made. If you only get one or the other of these channels of information, you will have very different perspectives on him.

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seattle_spring1y ago

> Though sometimes I remember how just about everyone in my life that I love, respect and have spent a lot of time with has said something stupid, insecure, distasteful or offensive at some point

You don't think there's maybe a bit of difference between "has said something stupid, insecure, distasteful or offensive at some point", and "has said something stupid, insecure, or distasteful multiple times a day every day since spending $44B for the privilege to project those stupid, insecure, distasteful or offensive statements as far and wide as possible"?

kanbara1y ago

he should keep his opinions to himself because he wields more power than billions of people combined, is the richest man in the world, and has said and done pretty heinous things. platforming nazis and right-wing white supremacists, siding with fascists who tried to stage a coup, calls for the murder of muslims, calls for the removal of rights for trans people, and is now calling for treason charges against politicians who did not support donald trump.

not only that, but he disowned his child, calls people slurs and insults them for not supporting him, and is just generally an unpleasant person. he bought an election and unfathomable power, pretty uncool if you ask me.

he also hasn't said one or two messed up things, he tweets them every second. if you are apologising for a racist/white supremacist/nazi/fascist you should look very heavily in the mirror. and if you support the things he supports, well, good luck.

sssososo1y ago

> calls for the murder of muslims, calls for the removal of rights for trans people, and is now calling for treason charges against politicians

Please provide evidence of these claims.

FloorEggOP1y ago

The thing is, I don't think most of what you just wrote is accurate, fair, intellectually honest or true.

1) You don't feel he has the right to voice his opinions because he is rich and powerful? Why? Do you prefer the rich and powerful influence your life in secret? Why? 2) I don't believe that he wields more power than billions of people. Do you really believe that? Surely thousands, maybe millions, but definitely not billions. You are exaggerating by at least 3 orders of magnitude. 3) Have you considered that there are far more wealthy people whose wealth isn't public information? 4) What heinous things has he done? (Excluding tweets, which I would argue falls under "said" and not "done") 5) Have you carefully considered what happens if anyone with a controversial view on a topic is silenced from public discussion? What do you think the long-term consequences are of de-platforming large numbers of people for their opinions on controversial topics? What if those topics need to be worked out in order for us to advance? What if deplatforming nazi's leads to more nazi's and not the other way around?

Also, a lot of the things you are accusing Elon of saying/doing don't match my understanding/experience. calling for the murder of muslims? Removal of rights for trans people? treason charges against politicions for their political views?

None of those things sound like things Elon would actually say/do. Can you point me to examples of them? (You would be educating me, and you may sway my opinion by expanding what I know).

Every day I question what is true and right and virtuous. I want to be good. My strategy is to stay curious, and not just accept the first thing I learn about a new subject. I read about things that are happening from a lot of different sources. When someone tells me that a person is evil/nazi/etc, and I go and listen to the things that person is saying, usually they aren't actually evil/nazi/etc they are just challenging the existing power structures or trying to shine light on uncomfortable truths.

I am not apologizing for anyone, but I do want to empathize with everyone, and most of all I want to understand what is true. I also want to forgive the things that warrant being forgiven. I have seen no compelling evidence that Elon is racist, white supremacist, nazi or facist, and me questioning you labelling him with such is not me apologizing, its me scratching my head wondering why you would label him as such. Genuinely curious, why would our perspectives on this be so different?

Where are you getting your information, and where am I getting my information?

Word to the wise, don't label curious people racist/white supremacist/nazi/fascist apologists, unless you want to be governed by tyranny, and if you do, well, good luck.

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