Mr. Musk goes to Silicon Valley
Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter is the story of Gen-X rising
Elon Musk Buys Twitter
The world's most famous African American has finally done it. Only cost $44 billion, not a small sum by any stretch, but Elon Musk has managed to take Twitter private.
Somehow I had the feeling that he was the one who was going to give the world the free platform that it needed. If you can look past my inexplicable misspelling of “speech” (twice), this tweet was fairly prescient:
To be clear, I followed up this tweet with a clarification of what “bad speech” is:
This is exactly what Elon has stated his policy to be: if it is not illegal then it should be allowed.
So why did I think Elon would or should be the one to do it?
I think it’s pretty obvious that there was a desperate need for this in terms of maintaining the integrity of the public dialogue necessary for people to feel they have a functional democracy
He’s not really a Republican nor a Democrat…he’s more akin to a classic liberal or slightly less of center
A track record of innovation and success with technology companies
He has the resources to make sure it’s done the right way
I wrote that over a year ago, but I think over time he has also come around to my first point which is that it is essential for our future.
Musk was 100% correct when he said:
“having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”
Why is Twitter Relevant?
Before I move on, I want to address this question. After all, Twitter is the smallest and least profitable of the major social media platforms. It does not have the reach of Facebook or TikTok, and as a tech company does not have the financial clout of Google, Amazon, or Apple. So who really cares about Twitter because it’s not even really that representative of the real world?
All these things are true, but Twitter has something that others don’t: a concentration of thought leaders comprising all major fields…especially those of cultural and political importance.
Therefore, even if Twitter isn’t always representative of the conversations being had by normal people, it has an oversized influence on politics and culture. This is how you get to the point where a small but loud political minority can mainstream fringe ideas like Critical Race Theory and Gender Theory.
On the other hand, Twitter is also the place where a handful of relatively obscure accounts, such as my @gummibear737, were part of the “Team Reality” movement which fought back against Covid-19 disinformation and tyranny. Eventually, with facts and logic, we were able to create a powerful counternarrative that sought to frame Covid-19 in an appropriate context.
Btw, there’s even a book out about Team Reality now!
Twitter is the “public square” where influential people publicly debate the most relevant (though not always most important) issues of the day. This might seem backward because it leaves so many people out of the discussion, but in reality, these discussions were already occurring behind the scenes in elite circles for all of human history. Now you get to see it play out in real-time.
It’s also somewhat of a meritocracy because if you can post interesting content, you can grow your follower base and be a bigger part of the discussion.
It’s not perfect, but it’s the closest thing that we have to a global public town square.
Can Elon Musk be trusted to take over Twitter?
For the record, I think Elon is a breath of fresh air. I don’t always agree with him, but he is honest and real and you know where he stands. Sometimes he is brilliantly insightful, sometimes he’s willing to say the quiet part out loud and sometimes he’s completely goofy. I’m fine with all of it because I think his heart is in the right place.
And don’t forget that acquiring Twitter is not without risk. I got this DM from a Twitter buddy of mine recently:
“Musk is taking an enormous risk with this deal… It’s borderline sacrificial
If he’s doing this for the reasons he says he is…then he deserves the Nobel peace prize…
Because the bank could easily own TSLA in a year or two if things go the wrong way…”
I believe Elon when he says that it’s not about the money with his purchase of Twitter.
What will change with Elon Musk’s ownership?
Elon Musk has promised free speech. Unless it is illegal, he wants to allow it.
I fully agree with him on this.
However, I came across this tweet which struck me as a bit strange.
It is implied that the extremes of the right and the left would be less prominent in the future of Twitter. I get the intent: these extremes are currently over-represented and suck a lot of the oxygen out of the Twitter space. However, you can’t minimize their voice without resorting to some kind of censorship. Deboosting somebody’s account is a type of free speech censorship.
I’m not sure how Elon plans on addressing these issues or implementing his plan. His Twitter feed reads like a stream of consciousness so I don’t read too much into what he tweets because he’s mostly just thinking out loud.
But I am fairly certain that he will figure it out and we will see a platform where free speech is broadly permitted and content moderation is transparent.
So why is the left losing their minds over Elon’s acquisition of Twitter?
The answer is pretty simple.
This tweet by Elon Musk states an inconvenient truth for the left. It is a conclusion that more and more people in the middle are coming to. I resisted identifying as a conservative for a long time because I considered myself right of center…but I can no longer see the center anymore from where I’m currently at. That’s how far it has moved.
Some necessary background
A while back the left decided that hate speech is violence. The logical conclusion for them was that censorship was, therefore, necessary to ensure a “safe and inclusive” environment.
Then came the issue of disinformation/misinformation and it was determined that this was also a very dangerous thing because it is how Trump got elected. The logical conclusion was that this also needed to be censored.
Unfortunately, this is a slippery slope, and pretty soon hate speech/disinformation became anything that the left doesn’t agree with.
Hence Twitter became a place with no transparent rules about what was allowed and the Overton Window kept getting smaller and smaller and moving further and further left.
The inconvenient truth
The left has been trapped in a progressive echo chamber for so long that they have lost touch with average people.
And platforms like Twitter cover for them by censoring those who would call out their crazy positions and ideas.
For example, elementary school children should not be taught about sex or gender…full stop. This is not a controversial position for the overwhelming majority of parents. Yet if you go by what is said on social media, you would think that trans children are being bullied and persecuted.
We’ve been living in a modern-day version of The Emperor’s New Clothes where we are supposed to pretend that crazy is normal:
Defund the Police
Radical Gender Theory
Critical Race Theory
Social media censorship has been necessary to prop up these ideas by protecting their advocates from debate and criticism.
It’s been incredible to see so many people on the left go nuts about the prospect of having free speech and debate on Twitter. They are terrified (or should I say triggered) by the notion of being challenged to debate their ideas.
Twitter moving forward and the rise of Gen-X
I think the tide is turning and we are starting to see a backlash to the insanity of woke progressives. Elon’s acquisition of Twitter is by far the most significant development in this sense:
A word about Gen-X
It shouldn’t be lost on you that Elon Musk is a prime example of Gen-X.
And it is Gen-X that is starting to stand up and say enough is enough.
It’s funny because this was the generation that mostly just wanted to be left alone, but at some point, it was too much to remain quiet.
For those of you who don’t know, Gen-X tends to be:
Independent and resourceful → many were latch key kids and learned to be independent as children
Cynical about politics → The Clintons and the Bushes will do that to you
Open-minded → First generation to grow up in a post civil-rights movement world - fairly liberal on social policy
Commonsensical → Don’t like fancy stuff, don’t bend to trends, work hard-play hard mentality
But probably most important is that Gen-X is the only generation that is tech-savvy, but not tech-dependent.
And reluctantly, Gen-X has started to stand up and speak out.
Elon Musk is probably the greatest manifestation of this phenomenon. I don’t sense that this is an issue he is taking on because he’s passionate about politics or culture wars.
He’s taking it on reluctantly because there isn’t really any other option.
I’m Gen-X and that’s how I came into it. I never really followed politics during the Obama presidency or before. But as more of the crazy aspects of modern culture have revealed themselves, I also felt compelled to speak out.
This is far from over
We’ve got younger generations that have been raised on safety-ism.
Maybe they will grow out of it as they get older, but we’re in uncharted territory here. Usually, young people eventually get slapped back to reality upon encountering the real world.
But we’re living in a world where people spend all day on their phones and the government can print all the money it wants. Societal collapse can happen much faster in this kind of environment.
So it is important not to let up and get complacent because the backlash against Elon and Twitter has already begun.
I expect every bad thing in the future to be blamed on Twitter.
It didn’t take long after I wrote this:
For AOC to predict that all future hate crimes will be the fault of Twitter:
I knew this would be their line of attack because their worldview crumbles under scrutiny and the only way to prevent that is through censorship or cancellation.
After all, if speech is violence then no debate can ever take place again.
I think it is imperative that more people join Twitter and see this battle of ideas play out in real-time.
Still…in the grand scheme of things, this is a good day.
Big props to Elon Musk for taking this leap…he deserves all the memes.
Great analysis of GenXers. Like you, I ignored politics until Obama and even more so, the pandemic. I would rather not complain, suck up the parts I don't like and I have built an extraordinary tolerance for the out of whack. But exactly as you said it, enough is enough. I am now neck deep and gaining speed.
AOC can suck it that little cry baby. You know you're a fraud when you predict that truth will be your ruin.
I would also add that Twitter is critical because of links, basically to here, Substack. Twitter + Substack, when taken together, can basically negate any attempt by the powers-that-be to censor anything. Twitter has the real-time virality and Substack has the unlimited volume.