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Everyone trying to understand Musk's motivations reminds me of the parable of the Blind Men and an Elephant [1]. Yes, he is engaging the right wing, including t

Everyone trying to understand Musk's motivations reminds me of the parable of the Blind Men and an Elephant [1]. Yes, he is engaging the right wing, including the reactionary factions, but that hardly makes him a conservative. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant

giraffe_lady 4y ago
- braingenious 4y ago
  > What would make him a conservative other than taking conservative actions? To his fans, nothing. Nothing at all could convince his fans that he’s doing anything other than playing infinite-dimensional chess against whom the only true possible opponent could be the godhead itself. It’s genuinely funny watching full-grown adults convince themselves that Benevolent Doctor Doom really exists and cares about them.
  - programmarchy 4y ago
    I’m not convinced of anything but brain dead takes like “he’s a conservative!” are not going to help identify his underlying motivations.
    - braingenious 4y ago
      Ah yes, it is “brain dead” to say “The guy who is telling people to vote for republicans is a conservative.” While that would make sense when describing literally anybody else, since it is Elon we must consult the ancient runes and see what the prophecy portends for the messiah.
      - programmarchy 4y ago
        Yes, taking statements out of context and using them to paint a one-dimensional image of a person, whether it's Elon Musk or anybody else, is brain dead.
        braingenious 4y ago
        What does the word conservative mean to you? I’m aware of it as a political leaning that people express by showing support for candidates and policies. It does not mean “bad word that no apply to mr hero Musk man” to me. edit: The whole concept of “The fact that he came out and unequivocally expressed his opinion that conservatives should be in charge of the country is only a tiny bit of minutiae about his fractally-complex unknowably wise opinions on conservatives” is one of the silliest things I’ve ever read. It is exactly the same phenomenon that you’ll notice in elderly Facebook posters that love to dissect the hidden meaning in Q drops.
    - theGnuMe 4y ago
      Occam's razor man. Musk needs a lax regulatory environment for his businesses neuralink, spacex, tesla, twitter. Conservatives in general are pro-business anti-regulation, anti-union etc... Democrats tend to be on the labor, humanist/individual and consumer protection side. This is like the history of civilization and the simplest explanation I've found.
- programmarchy 4y ago
  Not many conservatives care much about global warming, do they? Caring about the issue enough to start an electric car company seems like something a liberal might do, but he’s not that either. Dude literally started a company researching how to put chips in your head. How many conservative transhumanists do you know? People are pearl-clutching and leaving no room for nuance.
  - braingenious 4y ago
    Imagine caring so much about global warming that you use your enormous platform to tell people to vote for the party that denies global warming is a problem. Only a genius could do that!
    - programmarchy 4y ago
      Actually, courting republican-leaning voters would be an effective way to get them to care about global warming, or at least consider purchasing electric vehicles. They're already spending $80K+ on trucks, so why not buy a Tesla Cybertruck next time? Musk's overtures towards conservatives might make a bunch of nerds feel alienated, but could be worth it if he can bring the other half of the country into the green market. Those overtures don't make him a conservative, though, just a car salesman. Anyway, imagine conservatives wanting to "conserve" the environment -- a novel thought! But if you see the world in black and white, and left and right, then those types of syntheses are not in the realm of possibility.
      - braingenious 4y ago
        >Actually… He is telling people to vote for real republicans that exist today and presently support policies that will accelerate climate change. It is a fun thought experiment to think about imaginary theoretical future republicans and their made-up brand new ideologies that they might one day hold, but I’d have to be suffering from a severe untreated head wound to mix that up with reality.
  - giraffe_lady 4y ago
    Yeah it's almost like what defines the contemporary conservative movement is not resistance to change but... something ... else. I wonder what it could be!

giraffe_lady 4y ago

braingenious 4y ago
> What would make him a conservative other than taking conservative actions? To his fans, nothing. Nothing at all could convince his fans that he’s doing anything other than playing infinite-dimensional chess against whom the only true possible opponent could be the godhead itself. It’s genuinely funny watching full-grown adults convince themselves that Benevolent Doctor Doom really exists and cares about them.
- programmarchy 4y ago
  I’m not convinced of anything but brain dead takes like “he’s a conservative!” are not going to help identify his underlying motivations.
  - braingenious 4y ago
    Ah yes, it is “brain dead” to say “The guy who is telling people to vote for republicans is a conservative.” While that would make sense when describing literally anybody else, since it is Elon we must consult the ancient runes and see what the prophecy portends for the messiah.
    - programmarchy 4y ago
      Yes, taking statements out of context and using them to paint a one-dimensional image of a person, whether it's Elon Musk or anybody else, is brain dead.
      - braingenious 4y ago
        What does the word conservative mean to you? I’m aware of it as a political leaning that people express by showing support for candidates and policies. It does not mean “bad word that no apply to mr hero Musk man” to me. edit: The whole concept of “The fact that he came out and unequivocally expressed his opinion that conservatives should be in charge of the country is only a tiny bit of minutiae about his fractally-complex unknowably wise opinions on conservatives” is one of the silliest things I’ve ever read. It is exactly the same phenomenon that you’ll notice in elderly Facebook posters that love to dissect the hidden meaning in Q drops.
  - theGnuMe 4y ago
    Occam's razor man. Musk needs a lax regulatory environment for his businesses neuralink, spacex, tesla, twitter. Conservatives in general are pro-business anti-regulation, anti-union etc... Democrats tend to be on the labor, humanist/individual and consumer protection side. This is like the history of civilization and the simplest explanation I've found.
programmarchy 4y ago
Not many conservatives care much about global warming, do they? Caring about the issue enough to start an electric car company seems like something a liberal might do, but he’s not that either. Dude literally started a company researching how to put chips in your head. How many conservative transhumanists do you know? People are pearl-clutching and leaving no room for nuance.
- braingenious 4y ago
  Imagine caring so much about global warming that you use your enormous platform to tell people to vote for the party that denies global warming is a problem. Only a genius could do that!
  - programmarchy 4y ago
    Actually, courting republican-leaning voters would be an effective way to get them to care about global warming, or at least consider purchasing electric vehicles. They're already spending $80K+ on trucks, so why not buy a Tesla Cybertruck next time? Musk's overtures towards conservatives might make a bunch of nerds feel alienated, but could be worth it if he can bring the other half of the country into the green market. Those overtures don't make him a conservative, though, just a car salesman. Anyway, imagine conservatives wanting to "conserve" the environment -- a novel thought! But if you see the world in black and white, and left and right, then those types of syntheses are not in the realm of possibility.
    - braingenious 4y ago
      >Actually… He is telling people to vote for real republicans that exist today and presently support policies that will accelerate climate change. It is a fun thought experiment to think about imaginary theoretical future republicans and their made-up brand new ideologies that they might one day hold, but I’d have to be suffering from a severe untreated head wound to mix that up with reality.
- giraffe_lady 4y ago
  Yeah it's almost like what defines the contemporary conservative movement is not resistance to change but... something ... else. I wonder what it could be!