Twitter may find that its increasingly heavy-handed censorship may lead it down the same path as CNN. In which case, Musk’s bid, if he ends up buying the company, may be the best thing to ever happen to it. From Tom Luongo at tomluongo.me:
I’ve given Elon Musk a lot of grief in the past over how he’s run Tesla Motors. Suffice it to say I’m not a fan. Deep down I’m supremely distrustful of Musk because he is, at best, a mercurial figure who is difficult to read.
He’s become the richest dude in the world partnering with governments to build some of the biggest hype machines in history. So, his offer to buy all of Twitter and take it private can cynically be seen as just another moment of ego from the 21st century’s best reincarnation of P.T. Barnum.
That said, however, strange things happen, when you acquire the kind of Fuck You Money that Musk has.
And it seems to me if you connect some dots that Musk has been planning this move for a while. Last year he came out in favor of Bitcoin. Then he took a memecoin, DOGE, and turned it into the crypto ‘flavor of the month.’
Musk’s ego is something to remain skeptical of, but it’s also hard not to respect a guy who is completely free at this point, or least free enough that he has zero fucks left to give to the regime that made him what he is.
I will not attempt to deny Twitter’s apparent influence, but as an independent thinking, reasonably well-read and skeptical adult I consider that influence to be the best argument ever made for limited government. If some large minority or even a majority of people can have their political (and remember, politics is merely willingness to hire people to use force on other people) opinions moulded by 150 word-containing images, I can trust no one to have “authority” over me.
SW
I come at it from the opposite direction but arrive at the same place. I try to make my writing as concise as possible, but there is no way I can make a decent argument or analysis about anything important in 150 words. It’s slogans and bromides, and a waste of time. I don’t argue with the assertion that Twitter is highly influential, but I think that’s distressing. A lot falls through the cracks when everyone is limited to 150 words.
I will not attempt to deny Twitter’s apparent influence, but as an independent thinking, reasonably well-read and skeptical adult I consider that influence to be the best argument ever made for limited government. If some large minority or even a majority of people can have their political (and remember, politics is merely willingness to hire people to use force on other people) opinions moulded by 150 word-containing images, I can trust no one to have “authority” over me.
SW
I come at it from the opposite direction but arrive at the same place. I try to make my writing as concise as possible, but there is no way I can make a decent argument or analysis about anything important in 150 words. It’s slogans and bromides, and a waste of time. I don’t argue with the assertion that Twitter is highly influential, but I think that’s distressing. A lot falls through the cracks when everyone is limited to 150 words.