• Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Its a human blind spot. A lot of people confuse wealth for intelligence. In lower socio-economic levels, succeeding involves a lot of intelligence. Its a fucking struggle. Lots of fish trying to eat each other and take what little resources we have. One fuck up and it’s all over. So anyone that is succeeding is also someone that with enough intelligence to foresee pitfalls and avoid them or escape with their wealth.

      Those values are used to evaluate the people at the top which are swimming in a whole different pond. The neopotism and safety nets built into the upper crust of society is not part of the calculation that a lot of people use to factor into how they see these people. They still apply the same dog eat dog mentality to the upper crust of society.

      • Pup Biru@aussie.zone
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        9 months ago

        honestly wealth at any level requires luck… intelligence barely factors into it. it’s less that 1 fuck up and it’s all over, and more that 1 fuck up without someone to cover it up or bail you out and it’s all over… the wealthier you are, the bigger the fuck up before you or someone else can bail you out:

        poor? it’s an unexpected car issue

        rich? it’s that you fucked over literally an entire country for years on end in a very public way that gained you very little

      • Glide@lemmy.ca
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        9 months ago

        A lot of people confuse wealth for intelligence.

        Smart people who make good products that people want will have the invisible hand distribute them wealth. Dumb people who make bad products that no one wants will go backrupt. This is the core philosophy behind why capitalism “works.” It is a system that conflates wealth with virtue, by design.

        You’re right to point out that it is incorrect logic, but no one is confusing anything. The entirety of our Western world is build around this idea and reinforces it to its people at every single opportunity. They’re making the judgements that they have been told are correct. Can we really say people are confused when they’re confidently acting exactly as they’ve been taught from birth?

    • LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Look I don’t like Musk either but even starting off wealthy becoming the richest man in the world takes some doing. He was way ahead of the curve on reusable rockets and EVs and succeed there where a bunch of people failed. I think where he fails is when it comes to protecting his image and maintaining relationships. He’s a thin-skinned narcissist who thinks he’s humanity’s savoir and eventually that got to him.

      • skisnow@lemmy.ca
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        9 months ago

        I guess Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning were just hapless chaps stumbling around in the dark, until Elon lighted their way with his genius vision of how to build an EV. /s

        So much so I had to google their names because even I can’t remember them.

  • ceenote@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Nobody has done more to disprove the “Rich people are smarter than everyone else” idea.

    • 9point6@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Remember a decade ago when he was being lauded as our time’s Einstein?

      … Hahahahahahaha

      • alekwithak@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yeah by his own PR team, mostly, but it was a pretty easy fascade to see through when you actually listened to the man speak. Still don’t forgive Dan Harmon for letting him shit on R&M with the eLoN tUsK bullshit. Or Star Trek Discovery for that matter, which happened much later after he had already shown his true face to the world. I know Harmon got paid because he’s talked about it, but I would really like to know how much he spent on getting a passing reference in the least popular ST show of all time.

        • QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          A friend of mine has head canoned that the guy from Star Trek was joking about being from Elon Musk University and that it’s the old “Adolf Hitler School for Friendship and Tolerance” gag but in space.

          I’m just gonna go with that because fuck it’s the equivalent of listing Deepak Chopra as one of the greatest philosophers of the 21st century in your hard sci-fi setting.

        • SatyrSack@lemmy.sdf.org
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          9 months ago

          I would really like to know how much he spent on getting a passing reference in the least popular ST show of all time.

          From what I have heard, that part of the line was not even scripted. The actor ad libbed it in hopes that it might lead to him being gifted a free Tesla vehicle.

          EDIT: There was also the completely unrelated reference in a later episode, in which a character mentioned having gone to Musk Junior High School. That may have been a paid reference.

            • QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works
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              9 months ago

              My head canon is that in universe Musk Jr. High isn’t a real school and it’s just an edgy joke… the space version of saying you went to the “Adolf Hitler School for Tolerance and Friendship”

              You say it for a laugh when you’re 14 or acting like it on Space 4Chan

        • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          There was also an episode of Young Sheldon where Sheldon had sent equations for reusable rockets to NASA, and at the end of the episode it showed Elon buying the equations from NASA.

          • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com
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            9 months ago

            He was also in South Park, and Rick & Morty. He had a great PR team considering what they were working with behind the scenes. They dressed him up real nice.

            Then he fired them, because he didn’t like having to wear anything in public. Metaphorically-speaking.

      • QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        And I am proud to have called bullshit on it from day one.

        Whoever leads us to the promised land isn’t going to have a for profit LLC

        • skisnow@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          Well done. I’m like most people in that I didn’t spot it until he started talking about a subject I knew about. The first Tesla Roadster looked amazing1, and then the hyperloop sounded like a cool idea2, and then oh wait what’s he saying about software development now?

          1 because its body was made by Lotus

          2 except it doesn’t work

          • QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works
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            9 months ago

            It wasn’t anything specific, it’s just… the idea of this guy being the real life Tony Stark didn’t pass the smell test. Not because he didn’t seem bright, but because I couldn’t believe ANYONE lived up to the hype that Elon had.

            That and… well… the idea of the Private Corporation coming to save the day and guide us into a Utopia sounded way too much like a Libertarian Fantasy.

          • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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            9 months ago

            Yeah, he’s like LLMs in that regard. Sounds plausible until it’s a subject you don’t have much knowledge of, then suddenly turns into a dribbling twat when it’s one you do understand.

            Then you realise he was an idiot all along.

    • GeeDubHayduke@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 months ago

      Literally had someone saying that earlier today. Something along the lines of “you don’t become the richest person in the world without some competency.” Just ignore the fact he started on third base…

      • jacksilver@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I mean, yeah he had a lot of advantage, but he did have to do something right to become the richest man. But making some good gambles doesn’t make you a good person nor does it mean you’re great at everything.

        Maybe he was good at finding companies at the right time to invest, but that means jack about any economic or political acumen. Same reason why we don’t want businessmen in politics, being good at one thing does not mean you’re good at everything.

      • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        I don’t know exactly how much his parents were worth, but his net worth has increased by many thousands of times. That’s not “third base”, saying he got where he is by luck and nepotism is just wilfully ignorant.

        Trump, on the other hand, would have done better if he just left his money in a savings account.

        • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          I dunno, man, we could probably get into an entire dissertation about this, but I’m not totally convinced that most of these fabulously wealthy people didn’t just fail upwards by throwing the spaghetti plate at the wall; the only difference between them and us is that, often, they start with a lot more spaghetti to throw

          • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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            9 months ago

            Pretty much all of the three digit billions crowd are in tech of some description. There’s definitely an element of being in the right place at the right time, but there’s also a lot of business skills as well.

            A lot of their success seems to be recognising an opportunity before anyone else, whether that’s luck or skill is difficult to know.

            • skisnow@lemmy.ca
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              9 months ago

              A lot of their success seems to be recognising an opportunity before anyone else

              Pretty much everyone in the world has at some point in their lives had some idea or spotted some gap in the market that could be a successful product, but 99% of us don’t get to act on that because the rent is due and will be due again next month.

              • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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                9 months ago

                I largely agree with what you’re saying, but he’s been in the right place at the right time 3 times, and made good on the potential. Maybe he was just really lucky, maybe he had dozens of things going and those 3 are the ones that panned out, maybe he was a genius that destroyed his talents with hubris and drugs. Certainly, having the financial security to take those chances was a big factor in his success, as much as apparently believing that success was all due to his inborn talent was a big factor on his continuing fall from grace.

    • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      I genuinely think he’s had some sort of cognitive decline.

      He went from being merely wealthy to the richest man in the world, and nearly everyone thinking he’s a genius, to being hated by nearly everyone and losing money fast.

    • psmgx@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      that may have been entirely or mostly intentional, because it’s now 100% a right-wing propaganda machine and it got Trump elected

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      Don’t forget the lying. He always always lies to sell his shit, always has for decades now, and it works, people always lapped yo every dumb bullshit that came out of his mouth

  • krashmo@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    He collected data on all Americans from multiple government agencies, successfully killed multiple investigations into several of his companies, and secured additional government contracts for those companies. Is that what we’re calling nothing these days?

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      And Trump is now threatening to cancel those government contracts. So he’s blown everything he’s gained (and then some) from his little fling with Trump.

      • pi3r8@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        That’s what trump does. He threatens. Then in the majority of times he gets distracted or backs down. Those contracts aren’t cancelled until they are cancelled.

    • Contemporarium@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      Are you serious? He wants people to think he’s cool SO bad it’s genuinely so pathetic lol. All the other billionaires you could say that. But Elon is so desperate for people to think he’s this funny cool based guy it’s hilarious

      • fodor@lemmy.zip
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        9 months ago

        That is partly true, but also he’s a strong narcissist. They make up their own stories. They’ll play up the feud to take eyes off of other bad shit.

        Don’t think for a second he lost or he’s gone or it’s all over for him. He doesn’t see it that way.

    • stormeuh@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      For now, he does have that yes, but his wealth is for a significant portion a house of cards built on the value of tesla stock. If the value of that stock falls far enough, lenders who gave him loans with tesla stock as collateral could margin call him, essentially asking for more collateral. That could make him the poorest person in the world quite quickly, i.e. billions in debt.

      • Subverb@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        While you’re absolutely correct, even if Musk lost 99.7% percent of his wealth he would still be a billionaire (depending on whose net worth number you choose to use). I wouldn’t hold out seeing him in a bread line or starting a gofundme.

        • howrar@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          The real question is whether the collapse of his house of cards will lead to a 99.7% loss of wealth or >100% loss. He won’t be a billionaire anymore if it’s the latter.

      • Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        I wish more billionaires would get on those… and visit WW1 era military shipwrecks…

        spoiler

        The reason why that is a terrible idea is because during WW1, many naval artillery shells used picric acid as an explosive filler, picric acid reacts readily with metals to form highly sensitive picrate salts that are very sensitive to detonation upon being disturbed. Meaning messing with them even slightly has a significant risk of a massive underwater explosion happening. WW1 era military shipwrecks are strictly off limits to divers for that very reason.

  • GratefullyGodless@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Musk learned the hard way why other billionaires don’t get directly involved in politics, and buy politicians instead. That way they get what they want, but let the politicians take the heat for pushing through the billionaires agendas.

    The problem for Musk is that his ego wouldn’t allow him to sit quietly on the sidelines calling the shots. He had to prove how smart he was, and how he was the only one who could fix the government. Now, he’s pissed off almost everyone, has lost various large foreign contracts for his companies, drove sales of Tesla into the ground, and is watching Trump undo the “brilliant” governmental cost cutting that he did.

    And, his ego still won’t let it go, as now he’s suggested he’ll start his own political party. You just know the other billionaires are looking at him and going “What a dumbass!”

  • rumba@lemmy.zip
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    9 months ago

    Hard crash on the businesses, he sells whatever he has that’s worth good money (other, not his, companies stock) and buys a bunch of the destroyed stock. Promises to cede control, but continue funding. Tesla rebrands, becomes affordable and consumer friendly.

    I mean, there’s no way he would let all that happen. But he’s still sitting on an absolutely massive pile of money. If he had the balls to pull the rip cord he could sit right where he is for the rest of his life. He just doesn’t have it in him.

    • EchoSnail@lemmy.zip
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      9 months ago

      If I had fuck you money I’d buy Mount Everest, use my boring company to build a fucking subway railcar tunnel escalator thing. And then build an evil lair on top of my Everest. Fill a moat with lava or some shit, and then never see people again.

      Id hollow out the mountain enough for artificial farms and then pay the local community filthy amounts of money to produce my food for me.

      Oh. And also, 20 million to whoever can make proton work 100% on ARM64 or create a compatibility layer for x86/64 for ARM.

    • Korne127@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      No. If you use a slur about disabled people to insult anyone, you’re just an asshole. No matter what a disgusting piece of shit anyone is, using that word to insult is just awful.

      • FreakinSteve@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 was about people like you.

        Also, your comment is offensive to fecalphiliacs

        • Korne127@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Are you serious? Like, someone says “please don’t use shitty slurs that discriminating disabled people” and your instinctive reaction is “THEY SILENCE ME AND CRIMINALIZE KNOWLEDGE”. That’s just pathetic. You can be an asshole, but get over being called one then.

          And unrelated, but Fahrenheit is an awful book lol. Good dystopias are 1984, Brave New World or We. Fahrenheit 451 is just the author mad about television and saying that it’s so stupid and will ruin everyone’s brain. While the thought itself of knowledge being forbidden can be interesting and is an element in other dystopias, Fahrenheit is mainly based on the pure belief that books are a better medium than television, which is beyond ridiculous.

      • nebulaone@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Didn’t you know? Context doesn’t matter, if that word hadn’t been there racism would have stopped immediately. Tribalism, social sorting and human stupidity aren’t the reasons for most of our problems.