Dear Mr. Morgoth, the amount of heavy lifting that you do single-handedly in our sphere is staggering. As your avid readers, we do not only get musings on culture and aesthetics but also clear power analyses as in this very timely piece. As others have already pointed out, appointing his dog as CEO is reminiscent of Caligula´s horse being made a senator. I wonder how far the parallels to ancient Rome shall take us yet.
This is a well-timed article, in light of the recent dissection Elon performed on a BBC "journalist". That was a noble cause all on its own but it was even more than fun to watch, it was instructive of how intellectually weak his enemy propagandists are.
But as for Elon himself, I enjoy his antics, though I still believe Social Media to be a disease that is deadly to the body politic, perhaps literally. It feels a bit like watching the antics of Royals or perhaps the jockeying of Great Men in Rome. I live in an Oligarchy, I believe, not a Republic and Elon's struggles are the power struggles among the Oligarchs. They are at a remove from me and what I can affect, so I find them amusing but I consider both sides of the struggle to be ultimately dangerous to the ideal of living freely, enjoying liberty and being allowed to make my own way in the world.
I'm reminded of Russell Brand, actually. I enjoy his antics, tweaking the noses of the powerful and exposing the vacuity of the so called Elite. But I wouldn't trust him with my sister or my wallet.
Interesting take, particularly the comparison between Musk and Trump, it had not occurred to me how very similar they are, nor how much wiser Musk’s selection of Twitter as his swamp to drain rather than the Augean stables of Washington DC, Trump was doomed from the start as would even a more competent, less conflicted hero be.
We seem doomed to be governed by unelected elites whichever way you turn. Is there any hope for a benevolent despot to take the helm? It seems like the layers of bureaucracy, NGO’s, “influenencers” etc. will keep Caesar from the real centers of power.
I understand that Twitter is important insofar as it is how the elites communicate and signal to one another. Reported numbers are anywhere from 250 to 350 million active users, and some info security types estimate nearly 80% of those are bots. Who knows the true number but suffice to say the vast majority of people are not on the platform. But those that ARE on the platform are very influential. I truly appreciate you swimming in those waters to let us know what's afoot because otherwise I would never know. I pay as much attention to Twitter as I do to broadcast television or my local newspaper - that is to say, not at all. As an outsider to the platform, it has always struck me as foul, incestuous and more than a bit of an intellectual circle jerk. The fact that it is representative of the conversations had by the people who control our lives is a real testament to how bad things have become.
The Substack block was a revealing moment. On one level a petty, self-defeating tantrum, but on another a message. Perhaps there are talks behind the scenes, for X.AI to acquire Substack; Substack is not immediately interested; therefore the Rocket King lets them know that, should he wish, he can hurt them very badly.
If you just did audio recording on a 3rd party platform so that you could speak freely and without euphemism, instead of a self censored youtube video (or maybe in conjunction with one), I would support it.
Birb app was mildly interesting to me again when the wave of unbannings happened. It's just become another timesink to me again now. Logged out 3 weeks ago. Best content is on here anyway.
Dear Mr. Morgoth, the amount of heavy lifting that you do single-handedly in our sphere is staggering. As your avid readers, we do not only get musings on culture and aesthetics but also clear power analyses as in this very timely piece. As others have already pointed out, appointing his dog as CEO is reminiscent of Caligula´s horse being made a senator. I wonder how far the parallels to ancient Rome shall take us yet.
This is a well-timed article, in light of the recent dissection Elon performed on a BBC "journalist". That was a noble cause all on its own but it was even more than fun to watch, it was instructive of how intellectually weak his enemy propagandists are.
But as for Elon himself, I enjoy his antics, though I still believe Social Media to be a disease that is deadly to the body politic, perhaps literally. It feels a bit like watching the antics of Royals or perhaps the jockeying of Great Men in Rome. I live in an Oligarchy, I believe, not a Republic and Elon's struggles are the power struggles among the Oligarchs. They are at a remove from me and what I can affect, so I find them amusing but I consider both sides of the struggle to be ultimately dangerous to the ideal of living freely, enjoying liberty and being allowed to make my own way in the world.
I'm reminded of Russell Brand, actually. I enjoy his antics, tweaking the noses of the powerful and exposing the vacuity of the so called Elite. But I wouldn't trust him with my sister or my wallet.
Interesting take, particularly the comparison between Musk and Trump, it had not occurred to me how very similar they are, nor how much wiser Musk’s selection of Twitter as his swamp to drain rather than the Augean stables of Washington DC, Trump was doomed from the start as would even a more competent, less conflicted hero be.
We seem doomed to be governed by unelected elites whichever way you turn. Is there any hope for a benevolent despot to take the helm? It seems like the layers of bureaucracy, NGO’s, “influenencers” etc. will keep Caesar from the real centers of power.
I understand that Twitter is important insofar as it is how the elites communicate and signal to one another. Reported numbers are anywhere from 250 to 350 million active users, and some info security types estimate nearly 80% of those are bots. Who knows the true number but suffice to say the vast majority of people are not on the platform. But those that ARE on the platform are very influential. I truly appreciate you swimming in those waters to let us know what's afoot because otherwise I would never know. I pay as much attention to Twitter as I do to broadcast television or my local newspaper - that is to say, not at all. As an outsider to the platform, it has always struck me as foul, incestuous and more than a bit of an intellectual circle jerk. The fact that it is representative of the conversations had by the people who control our lives is a real testament to how bad things have become.
The Substack block was a revealing moment. On one level a petty, self-defeating tantrum, but on another a message. Perhaps there are talks behind the scenes, for X.AI to acquire Substack; Substack is not immediately interested; therefore the Rocket King lets them know that, should he wish, he can hurt them very badly.
Dear Mr. Morgoth.
If you just did audio recording on a 3rd party platform so that you could speak freely and without euphemism, instead of a self censored youtube video (or maybe in conjunction with one), I would support it.
Birb app was mildly interesting to me again when the wave of unbannings happened. It's just become another timesink to me again now. Logged out 3 weeks ago. Best content is on here anyway.