If you don't know who these people are, good for you! I'm glad your life is so insulated as to not have to care. Others aren't so lucky.
Re: the words of hateful people: If I can suggest some advice- if you let these people like these affect you, you’re only giving them power and there is nothing you can do to stop people like this from existing. If they deserve to be kicked off platforms for misconduct so be it but it’s not worth ruminating over. It’s not a matter of being insulated or indifferent, it’s a matter of now allowing them negatively affect you. And this coming from a Jewish person sees antisemitism all the time and has personally experienced plenty. Everyone has the ability to choose how they let others words affect them.
I know of Andy Ngo, he’s nobody journalist who only came “prominence” (that’s a very generous term) because someone thee a milkshake at him. I haven’t heard the name Kim dotcom in a decade- all I know is he started the Mega site and last I knew the government was after him. Laura Loomer is a rabid bigot but honestly don’t know what she has accomplished other than losing a run for Congress.
Here's an example from this thread:
I see the post, but I don’t know really understand the point your making because I have zero context. I checked the news, France never lost power AFAIK around 12/18. And if we call Europe’s energy crisis a loss, what is the the other loss to bring the score to 2:0? And why is it halftime? So I don’t understand the post in the first place or what is particularly humorous. Perhaps you have more insight into this?
The best I can infer that kimdotcom thinks that the cost of France/NATO supporting Ukraine is too high (lack of energy resources/high energy prices). Considering I don’t know any other statements he’s made, I wouldn’t interpret that as making fun of people who don’t have energy. Nor a pro-Putin statement. I would also infer based on Musk’s response and other posts he thinks this war should be ended as quickly as possible with compromises. I have no reason to believe he actually supports what Putin is doing even if some of his proposed peace deal aligns with Putin… that is the nature of a compromise.
I personally think the West should frankly be doing
more to support Ukraine and that the benefits of supporting them outweighs the costs. That said, I can understand why some people may not support it.
It’s totally unreasonable to label people as being “pro-Putin” or a “Putin puppet” for having a different opinion on foreign policy. For example, people making $12/hr and have a family to feed might be more concerned about the cost of energy than Ukrainian. Or maybe wars like Vietnam and Iraq have lead some people into an anti-interventionist position or they believe we have domestic problems that need to be addressed before we get involved in other country’s disputes. These aren’t opinions I have, but I can understand why people might have them.
It’s worth reflecting upon how many serious problems and conflicts in the world at this moment that we don’t pay attention to.
If nothing else his transphobia is on pretty full display, I mean I posted about it right here, not just in this thread but right after my reply to you:
Again, this is not really compelling- it’s a 3rd party vaguely describing a conversation. Direct quotes would be nice.
The problem with the transphobia topic as a whole is that people have different ideas about what constitutes transphobia. I would remind you however Musk has a transgender child. For example, if someone says it’s unfair for transwomen to compete in female sports, some people say that’s transphobia. Others think its misogyny to allow such competition. If someone talks about the profound increase in children seeking gender affirming care as troubling, is that transphobic? If a research find there is a strong peer influence leading to this rise are the researchers transphobic?
Frankly, I have no idea what Musk plans to do with this topic. It’s a controversial issue with a lot of emotions. I believe there are appropriate and inappropriate ways of discussing the things. That said, there is also a difference between thoughtful l, respectful discussion and harassment. Intentionally deadnaming or misusing of pronouns in order to offend someone I do think constitutes harassment. As my mother says “if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it”.
Look, I think we’re very much on the same page here. I am not a fan of Musk and never have been. I think he’s extremely narcissistic and egocentric, dishonest, manipulative, and doesn’t appear to demonstrate much respect for others. Its often hard to discern what he actually thinks from the trolling comments he uses to seek attention in line with all those Axis II Cluster B psychological traits.
I’m not by no means defending him. I’m just saying people are a lot more complex than this very much black and white portrayal of people’s personalities. And I find it very interesting how the media will try to take people down- again, many of these Musk issues have existed for years, but it wasn’t until he tried to buy twitter everything changed. I think that says something.
fortune.com
