Being stressed, depressed, drug addicted, and an actual Nazi.
Times like this I think about Enya. Yeah, Enya. Where’s she been? In a fucking castle. With a fuck ton of kitties.
She made her millions and said “oh golly, I don’t need to do much of anything anymore. And I quite like castles and kittens.”
She didn’t say “what can I do to make more people like me?” And then please the most hateful people on earth. How are these paths even a choice one has to ponder? Go fuck off in a castle full of cats.
It’s kinda crazy to me because let’s say you do want to be the most beloved person on earth AND you have more money than anyone ever, you could do that?
Like at one point musk said if there was a plan to end world hunger in 6 billion dollars he would do it, and of course he didn’t… But if he did, a small fraction of his infinite wealth would be gone, but people would have loved him.
If, Tesla actually produced a fully self-driving electric car that was better and cheaper than anything else, he’d have even more fans than he currently does.
If, he actually created high speed mass transit, instead of whatever the fucking “hyperloop” thing he made is.
He could have done probably all of this for the price of twitter, but nah instead he had to go be a nazi.
Doing like even half this list would make him beloved by the average person who isn’t too interested in him. They’d see all the good he does and say “That’s what a billionaire should be.” and not do any digging. It’s honestly batshit insane to me that someone can say “everyone hates me and it makes me sad but I’m not going to do anything about this because clearly they are the ones that are wrong.”
Like how do you fuck it up so bad. The first time I heard of the guy I bought into that “elon musk is ironman” persona thing, and now he’s just a crazed nazi I want nothing to do with.
Narcissism, ego, and wealth create one hell of a combination.
He wants to be worshipped by the masses, but he’s also the kind of person who needs to appear powerful and can’t stand being in any position but first. He has to be the richest person while also being the most adored, and he isn’t willing to sacrifice anything to achieve the latter.
This is the difference between the ultra-wealthy of the gilded age and today. Those of the gilded age built things with their wealth for the public, so they wouldn’t turn against them. Today they think they’re untouchable. They hoard their wealth and don’t try to do anything with it.
Yet, the gilded age came to an end with regulations, because they were amassing too much wealth. They only had a small fraction of what the ultra-wealthy today have. Something needs to be done about them, and the government isn’t taking action…
Not to defend Musk, but there are plenty of examples of money destroying someone’s life. I’m thinking primarily lottery winners. Just because one person successfully adjusted to it doesn’t mean it’s easy and everyone can.
Of course Musk is a special case where he ruins other people’s lives with his wealth but that’s not my point.
Imagine having more money than anyone’s ever had
Being stressed, depressed, drug addicted, and an actual Nazi.
Times like this I think about Enya. Yeah, Enya. Where’s she been? In a fucking castle. With a fuck ton of kitties.
She made her millions and said “oh golly, I don’t need to do much of anything anymore. And I quite like castles and kittens.”
She didn’t say “what can I do to make more people like me?” And then please the most hateful people on earth. How are these paths even a choice one has to ponder? Go fuck off in a castle full of cats.
It’s kinda crazy to me because let’s say you do want to be the most beloved person on earth AND you have more money than anyone ever, you could do that?
Like at one point musk said if there was a plan to end world hunger in 6 billion dollars he would do it, and of course he didn’t… But if he did, a small fraction of his infinite wealth would be gone, but people would have loved him.
If, Tesla actually produced a fully self-driving electric car that was better and cheaper than anything else, he’d have even more fans than he currently does.
If, he actually created high speed mass transit, instead of whatever the fucking “hyperloop” thing he made is.
He could have done probably all of this for the price of twitter, but nah instead he had to go be a nazi.
Doing like even half this list would make him beloved by the average person who isn’t too interested in him. They’d see all the good he does and say “That’s what a billionaire should be.” and not do any digging. It’s honestly batshit insane to me that someone can say “everyone hates me and it makes me sad but I’m not going to do anything about this because clearly they are the ones that are wrong.”
Like how do you fuck it up so bad. The first time I heard of the guy I bought into that “elon musk is ironman” persona thing, and now he’s just a crazed nazi I want nothing to do with.
Narcissism, ego, and wealth create one hell of a combination.
He wants to be worshipped by the masses, but he’s also the kind of person who needs to appear powerful and can’t stand being in any position but first. He has to be the richest person while also being the most adored, and he isn’t willing to sacrifice anything to achieve the latter.
He also thinks he’s Tony fucking Stark.
This is the difference between the ultra-wealthy of the gilded age and today. Those of the gilded age built things with their wealth for the public, so they wouldn’t turn against them. Today they think they’re untouchable. They hoard their wealth and don’t try to do anything with it.
Yet, the gilded age came to an end with regulations, because they were amassing too much wealth. They only had a small fraction of what the ultra-wealthy today have. Something needs to be done about them, and the government isn’t taking action…
Turns out, having obscene levels of wealth and power is really bad for your psyche.
We talk a lot about taxing billionaires for the good of the 99%, but it would do wonders for the well-being of the 1% as well.
Not to defend Musk, but there are plenty of examples of money destroying someone’s life. I’m thinking primarily lottery winners. Just because one person successfully adjusted to it doesn’t mean it’s easy and everyone can.
Of course Musk is a special case where he ruins other people’s lives with his wealth but that’s not my point.
The idea that 70% of lottery winners lose all their winnings isn’t true. It’s based on a fake statistic.
The news loves to highlight the cases where that’s true because it reinforces the cultural notion that wealth is tied to morality.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/21/belief-in-a-lottery-curse-is-comforting-but-winning-lots-of-money-does-make-you-happy