What Makes Elon Musk Any Different from Bill Gates?
We shouldn't trust or champion any technocratic billionaire. So what makes Musk so different?
So over on Instagram, the @greatamericansyndicate shared a snippet from Woody Harrelson’s monologue on SNL.
Everyone is sharing this post, so I nearly scrolled right past it. But the video caption caught my attention:
“Woody Harrelson’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ monologue about COVID sparks debate, Elon Musk says he was spot on”
Who gives a shit what Elon Musk says?
Why do we need to consider his thoughts on this matter or any matter?
Why can’t the event stand on its own as being newsworthy?
The same people who call out Bill Gates for poking his nose into stuff he has no business being involved in then turn around and act like Musk’s opinion makes any matter more legit. Why are the two billionaire technocrats treated differently?
And before anyone starts making fanboy excuses for Musk, let me ask you this:
Do you all remember back in 2020 when Musk threw his hat into the vaccine production ring? This wasn’t just his company partnering with CureVac to create mRNA microfactories:
He also actively praised what CureVac was doing:
So here’s the question I really want to ask:
If CureVac hadn’t failed, do you think Musk would be throwing public support behind what Woody Harrelson said on SNL?
I highly doubt it. I don’t even know if he would’ve bought Twitter if he’d made a boatload off of the pandemic. Or come out claiming that he was seriously sickened after taking the vaccine that he told us all he wasn’t going to take… Before reinforcing his support for the COVID vaccines.
This dude is all over the place. It seems to me like he goes whichever way the wind suggests there’s more money to be made and more applause to be earned.
Bottom line: If Elon Musk had profited from the pandemic’s poison, he wouldn’t be to conservatives today what Bill Gates is to liberals. But since CureVac failed, he’s now moved on to position himself as the conservatives’ champion and we’ll soon be seeing the profits he reaps from this move (from Twitter Blue, Tesla sales, Twitter payment processing and X.com, etc.).
Final Thoughts
Musk is ushering in some really bad things. He’s also a master manipulator.
From that story he told about the so-called stalker Brandon Collado to his dangling of the supposed #faucifiles in front of people for months, he stirs up a ton of drama and paints himself as the hero every time. He reminds me of my abusive ex. A masterful storyteller and charming as all get out. But a liar and manipulator at his core.
I really wish we could just focus on what’s happening in the world and leave Musk’s opinion out of the conversation. News is still news even if we don’t have his two cents.
Sadly, I worry that most people will welcome whatever he says and does with open arms because he knows how to present it in this “aw shucks I’m just one of the good guys” manner.
But if you dig deep enough, you’ll see that he’s not one of us and never will be. He cares more about technology, revenue, and social clout than humanity.
For instance, for all his talk over the years about fearing AI and warning people of a Terminator-like apocalypse, he sure is doing a lot to usher in AI and transhumanism as well as human-like robots.
It’s time to take the rose-colored glasses off and see Musk for who he really is. And to take everything he says with a healthy dose of skepticism.