Is it not strange that the people who – just two or three years ago – saw Elon Musk as the greatest grifter of the 21st Century (after Joe Biden and his cretinous son) now see him as a kind of latter-day Henry Ford and Lysander Spooner merged into one?
. . .
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He’s the Real Life Tony Stark!
People want to believe that such a person really exists.
My apologies, the article about Musk & PayPal I referenced in my earlier post (now likely in moderation because of that link) appears to be behind a paywall.
But the header says it all, and if anyone here wants to know more, you can find other links to similar content via Yandex.
In related EV news, there’s a Lucid Air Dream right now on Bring A Trailer. Price when new was $170,500. Current bid, $44,000.
Yikes.
Let me make sure I understand. The guy that made his entire fortune from GovCo manipulation of markets (Tesla) and contracts (SpaceX) is going to strip GovCo to the bone.
While you’re asking me why I drink, would you please not Bogart that joint?
LOL headline of the day:
Biden’s pardon of son Hunter threatens to tarnish legacy — thehill.com
Bwa ha ha ha — what’s this ‘threatens’ equivocation?
And the only thing a grifter needs
Is a suitcase and a trunk
And the only time he’s satisfied
Is when he’s a drunk
— The Animals, House of the Rising Sun
Yeah Jim, some legacy.
Supporting the genocide of Palestinians
Giving $billions to Ukraine to try starting World War 3
Putting up millions of illegal migrants in hotels and giving them free money
Getting the 3 letter agencies and Big Tech to censor “misinformation”
Just a few highlights, I’m sure there are lots more.
I do not want THIS government to become efficient. The German with the forbidden name, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and a host of others were efficient. No thanks. We would have to fire them all, and that will happen when pigs fly. Liberty will be restored as the heat from the funeral pyre of this government. (Generations from now!)
Eric, that looks like a nice road. I would love to have a nice smooth curvy road through the mountains to travel on around here. I have a few nice cruising routes I’ve discovered, but nothing like in your video. I’d be out at least once a week burning though the gears in the Firebird on that winding road.
As far as Musk is concerned, he is an enigma. Who knows what principles guide him? On one hand, he made his billions by exploiting taxpayers through the carbon credit scam. On the other hand, he seems to espouse libertarian viewpoints on occasion. He ridicules the woke. Maybe he is just betting on a winner because he’s smart?
Anyway, you should NOT post links to your website in your X posts. This will get suppressed for sure. Many people who write articles on Substack complain about the same thing when linking to their articles on X. If you want to link to your website, do it in a follow up comment.
I’ve always viewed Elon Musk as something of an enigma. He says the right things sometimes, and $#!+ libs (people who call themselves “liberals” or “progressives” but are really authoritarian wannabes) once LOVED him until he purchased Twitter 2 years ago.
I’ve read about some of Musk’s work and projects on Patrick Wood’s technocracy.news website and came to the conclusion that Musk is a billionaire technocrat who shouldn’t be blindly trusted. Conservatives who (blindly) trust Musk could well make the same mistake that liberals who (blindly) trusted Tony Fauci made when he was still in charge at NIAID. Fauci pushed all sorts of things when he was a “Public Health bureaucrat” that ended up being complete bull crap and/ or HARMFUL to people, while Musk advocates things like carbon taxes and brain implants, both of which appear to be wet dreams of technocrats.
Hi John,
The more I watch Musk and his interviews I sincerely believe the guy has a good heart. I really do believe (that he believes) that he is making the world a better place. In some instances I agree with some of his inventions.
Starlink has been able to generate internet connection/communication almost anywhere in the world. These satellite links were shipped into Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, war torn countries, rural areas, etc.
PayPal is not something I use, but if one needs to work around the banks or the Fed or to expedite money quickly was there a faster alternative when it went into effect 25 year ago? PayPal streamlined the banking system it also produced competitors such as Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App.
Neuralink – I am not a fan of implanting chips into human brains, but if someone is paralyzed or suffers from brain injuries this technology is superb allowing people the opportunity to converse and live their life to the fullest of their ability. Think about the potential cures to Alzheimer’s, dementia, blindness, etc. that could stem from this.
SpaceX – Seriously, did anyone think it was not cool when Musk and his engineers created a pair or arms to catch returning rockets? Also, to be able to expand exploration into space is pretty damn fascinating (at least to me). Then again I am one of those geeky kids that took astronomy in college as an elective and I get a kick out of visiting planetariums. So this may only be appealing to me.
HI RG,
IIRC, Musk was also warning about potential dangers involving AI. Had Kamala Harris won last month’s election instead of Trump, Harris (or whoever would be the REAL President calling the shots) would likely wish to use AI for all sorts of nefarious purposes.
Paypal owns Venmo. The point of the separate system is that terms of service are different, in particular regarding chargebacks.
Elon is what Elon is.
And to me he seems like a guy who is interested in making money through tech.
so he grifts with subsidies for Tesla while doing some amazing things with Spacex.
Something did happen to offend his sensibilities with covid or cancel culture. Maybe it was the transing of his kid. (should we call this Xing ?)
If that brought him to the idea the government is on an out of control, unsustainable path toward a fiscal crash landing, then maybe his celebrity and reach can do something about it.
This something will just be the delay of the unavoidable, but when it does happen, at least more people will know why.
And if he had a hand in keep Kamalatoe out of office, then good.
DOGE is yet another distraction to keep the masses entertained.
Discretionary spending is only about 20-25% of the budget. Interest on the national debt is growing exponentially. The trajectory is unchangeable. Math will prevail.
DOGE is DOA and is powerless to move the needle though it will make for good entertainment.
I’m very disappointed Vivek and Ron Paul has chosen to participate in this nonsense.
Agreed about DOGE. If I had a dollah dollah Bill Yo for every time Govco commissioned a commission to reform itself, I’d have a bunch of $$$ sloshing around looking for a home. Its beyond ridiculous that we cant face the mathematical reality that this county is broker than a bent dick dog.
Could be we sell off our legacy assets like land and mineral rights to the oligarchy and buy a little more time, but to what end? Its like a ninety year olds POLST, demanding full life sustaining treatment, no matter the cost, all so they can be comfortable fora a few more years. Personally I’d prefer to live, or die on this day, leaving my kids and grandkids with a chance to rebuild on a more solid foundation.
If Trump, Elon, and Vivek were serious, they’d be shouting to the rooftops to immediately end all warring, all foreign aid, and all payouts to illegal Aliens. thats the low hanging fruit that the majority could easily rally around. Until thats ended, I’d just assume they STFU about the whole thing and stop pretending.
“Discretionary spending is only about 20-25% of the budget. Interest on the national debt is growing exponentially.”
Yeah, I consider that discretionary too
https://mises.org/mises-wire/why-not-repudiate-national-debt
Indeed, math (god/karma/yin-yang) will prevail. The path was set when the feral reserve and the infernal revenue circus were established, and firmly cemented in place in the 40s and 50s with the rise of the notional security state, withholding, and corporations becoming the new nobility.
The sooner the better.
Promises, promises:
‘The recently formed Department of Government Efficiency will scrutinize multi billion-dollar loans to a Stellantis joint venture and Rivian from the government, Vivek Ramaswamy said on Monday evening.
‘Ramaswamy, who will lead the department along with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, said “president” Joe Biden’s “midnight spending spree is illegitimate and should be rescinded.”
‘DOGE will look into a $7.5 billion Department of Energy loan to StarPlus Energy, a joint venture between Samsung and Stellantis to build batteries for electric vehicles through two plants in Indiana. The agency will also look into a recently announced $6.6 billion loan to EV maker Rivian to complete an upcoming factory in Georgia.
‘Both loans were part of the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, which was aimed at promoting EVs and clean energy technologies. Tesla also received a loan under the program in 2010.’
https://tinyurl.com/58c25ub3
This is the acid test, isn’t it? If DOGE can’t stop such abusive, broad-daylight looting, then it will amount to nothing.
Meanwhile, there’s the nagging little issue that Elon, as an EeeVee CEO, has a glaring conflict of interest in this matter and really should recuse himself. Never mind: we are to depend on honor among thieves.
Promises don’t pay cash at the bank
If they did I’m bidding your word
They couldn’t pay me for the time that it took to write a check
To buy a babydoll for my girl
And that ain’t the hardest part …
— Ryan Adams, The Hardest Part
It’d be alot easier for the DOGE folks to apply the Ron Paul test: If it ain’t in the Constitution, then get rid of it. DOGE included…
The Department of Government Efficiency, now that’s a joke that’s waiting to be written. Even though it could be interpreted as a well-intended initiative at this stage, it has long been observed that eventually, a bureaucracy will evolve to the point where its primary purpose becomes to preserve itself, even potentially to the detriment of whatever cause it was created to address in the first place.
In all likelihood, DOGE will devolve into The Money-grabbing Department of Mindless Meddling.
‘eventually, a bureaucracy will evolve to the point where its primary purpose becomes to preserve itself’ — Stufo
*cough* ‘NATO’ *cough*
I’ve never once seen or heard of a bureaucracy confining itself solely to self-preservation. Oscar Wilde said it better:
“The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.”
That expansion includes staff, budget, scope and most importantly power. We really do need to eliminate the regulatory apparat.