Elon Musk, the worlds richest man, dug out a little sock money and bought Twitter.
Musk is a man who has led the charge in developing electric vehicles (a boon for those concerned with climate change), revolutionized space travel by building and launching rockets and satellites, and then combined the two ventures by strapping a cherry-red Tesla Roadster to one of those rockets and flinging that bad-boy into the cosmos.
If you’re curious, that red Roadster passed Mars back in 2020 and now orbits the sun just like the rest of us.
As if that wasn’t enough, he also developed Starlink, an internet service that utilizes low orbiting satellites built by SpaceX.
Do you live in rural America and have no access to reliable cable internet? Elon might be your guy….
Are you a Ukrainian drone pilot in need of a secure connection that allows you to fight for your nations sovereignty while destroying Russian invaders around the clock? Again, Elon is your guy…
The man actually challenged Vladimir Putin to a duel. How epic is that?!
He’s the closest thing to a real-life Tony Stark we’re going to get, so what is there to dislike?
His critics, are quick to disparage what they see as lackluster efforts toward charity, given his mind-boggling wealth. As if volunteering Starlink to aid the Ukrainians (a system that even the U.S. government admitted outshines their own military capabilities) wasn’t enough, he has, in fact, donated a considerable amount through other philanthropic actions.
I would be curious to know how much of their personal wealth each of these critics has given, or what new world-changing technology they have developed; I’m going to go out on a limb and assume the figures aren’t comparable.
So, given all that we know of Mr. Musk and his benevolence, why are leftists having a big ol’ ugly-cry about his purchase of Twitter?
Well… he’s a multi-billionaire for starters. The left and right both have their distinct problems, but the leftists really seem to take umbrage with any individual who’s level of success surpasses their own, especially when they don’t share the same worldview.
Elon has identified himself, politically, as an “independent moderate”. The problem for Musk, or at least it would surely appear to be, is that yesterdays “independent moderate” is todays “far-right extremist” in the eyes of progressives. There is no room for individuality with modern-day leftists. Ideological conformity or destruction, those are your options.
The problem for the left is that Elon doesn’t care. He is acutely aware of the fact that he can’t be cancelled. The world is his oyster, and he knows it.
As a consequence, Elon makes no bones about his opinions on a list of public figures, wokeism, politics, the slow creep of socialist ideas in America, and the current disregard for one’s freedom of expression.
Elon has called himself a free speech absolutist who views twitter as the global town-square, saying that it is a place where “matters vital to the future of humanity are debated”.
It isn’t hard to agree with any part of that statement. Social media platforms have become the new town square, and we should absolutely use these platforms to assist us in resolving issues within society.
The problem with the (soon to be unemployed) leadership at Twitter, like other mainstream social media platforms, is that they clearly wish to hold dominion over that digital town square, and regulate which issues can be discussed and how they are discussed. The motive to do so could be evidenced simply by looking at political contributions made by individuals within the company. There is a clear ideological trend, and it doesn’t favor conservatism.
Elon Musk has enthusiastically taken actions that have drawn the ire of leftists around the world, chief among them is his hostile overtaking of the blue bird behemoth. The leftists meltdown on twitter had the hashtag #ByeTwitter trending!
If you’re in need of a little comedy, go ahead and jump on there and search that hashtag; it will not disappoint, I assure you.
As the left mourns, everyone to the right of classic liberalism celebrates the acquisition as a win for free speech. I am inclined to (cautiously) agree.
It’s hard to imagine these platforms getting any worse than they are, and if Musk pledges to allow everyone to have an unrestrained voice, even those with whom we may staunchly oppose, then thats a win in my book.
On the other hand, we should maintain a healthy level of skepticism. Elon Musk is nothing more than human, even with his staggering list of accomplishments, and we humans are, in many ways, deeply flawed. He is no golden calf, and should not be deified. We should see to it that he keeps his word and supports the principles of the first amendment, even for his “harshest critics” as he has said. For now, we can only take him at his word.
We should never become complacent in the never ending battle for liberty. Success can tend to breed complacency, and complacency opens the door to vulnerability.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
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