• toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    a couple of thoughts that i’m sure aren’t popular on their face:

    • it takes a village to fail an idiot. elon has shown in the past that he’s capable of being better than he is now. i don’t think there’s anyone in the world who* actually, really needs a genuine, loving hug right now more than he does (*edit - fixed sentence)

    • it’s impossible to grow, learn, and make mistakes as a fucking trillionaire without it affecting millions of lives. everyone deserves to be able to make mistakes and learn and grow. it hurts us ALL when we allow people to amass such perverted fortunes. there shouldn’t be super-rich people with respect to the rest, because it’s harmful to all involved

    • elon is in pain. not just right now, but all the time. it’s easy to see that he has a lot of regrets. he’s still human, and he’s still got a conscience. he’s just misled, and it might be better to rally around him right now than to burn down his dealerships

    i’m sorry - i know at least one of these is completely crazy - i’m just racking my brain trying to think of new things, because the way i’m currently thinking is fucking me up.

    I guess my thought is: What if we had more of a “We know you’re better than this” vibe than the whole “fuck you nazi” vibe?

        • choab@discuss.online
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          8 days ago

          Having an understanding that the issue is systemic and that all people ultimately deserve compassion, understanding, and justice does not negate the threat posed by someone in that position. Showing compassion to a person like that, who is an active threat, is dangerous. Once their ability to cause harm has been reduced or removed, then we can safely engage with them.

          • toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world
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            8 days ago

            thanks, you’re right. but do you think it’s gonna take much longer to bring him to that level? something inside me wants to see the bigger Elon prevail. or do you think bringing him lower is just going to make him ore vindictive? he isn’t really hanging around with good friends these days.

            (ps - i’m not being apologetic, i just really want to make sense of this)

              • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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                7 days ago

                No, they’re someone who wants everyone to be redeemed and good to each other. That’s the point of the left. Violence against fascists is a tactic but it’s one we use because for some people at certain points violence is the only means to stop them from hurting people.

    • ooo@sh.itjust.works
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      8 days ago

      Cancer cells are just doing their best to survive but if no one will treat it I sure as hell am going to call it some dirty names.

    • qprimed@lemmy.ml
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      8 days ago

      totally get where you are coming from and thanks for the considered reply. I am sure others will answer, but here is mine…

      the immediate, urgent imperative is extracting our collective asses from this mess. after that we need to discuss and make real proper boundaries on the nature of accumulated power and wealth.

      I am personally not disposed to handle musk with kid gloves. his actions, and the actions of the other deranged humans he has enabled, directly affect people in my family in ways that place them in mortal danger. given the nature of his trauma (yup, he displays obvious trauma) and the path it entrenched him in, my inner armchair psychologist whispers to me that the only option is mitigation and management - or removal of the problem (non-violently… of course, right?). I do not believe there is redemption to be had for musk - and yes… that said I accept that I, personally, am probably a misguided human.

      now, if someone were to conclusively show that hugging it out with musk would change course for the thousands, millions, billions of people who will be harmed by his ego, then I will personally line up and do so. however, at this moment in time the man is insulated enough so as to make him unreachable - just like the others he orbits with.

      I believe the only option is mass protest and mass disobedience and there will be pain and there will likely be blood for many and I wish it were not so.

      I cannot find the capacity to soothe musk back into his humanity - I do not begrudge those who might try, however futile I think it may be. and so, organization around alternate options remains a necessity.

      • toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        i agree, and… i know that it must run its course now, but it’s unfortunate to see what i see as a lonely, creative kid whose life’s circumstances have stunted and perverted his desires, and now he’s just awful but he still thinks he’s doing good. a trillion dollars has got to fuck with anyone’s head. it shouldn’t be this way. (edit:) No one should have that much money. It fucks up inventors, it fucks up musicians, it fucks up religious leaders… it just shouldn’t be. Why do we let that happen to good people?

        • drhodl@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          He was a bully as a child. He’s not a trillionaire. He’s a crime against humanity, Fuck off Elmo !

    • Very simple reason why:

      He’s not better than this, simply because he would rather have this insane amount of wealth and NOT use it to aid people.

      I hate bezos for that, I hate musk for that, and I hate Zuckerberg for that. Musk gets more hate for all the actions he has taken to benefit himself and the other billionaires. He has so much more blood on his hands than that United Healthcare CEO, and I am very much okay with what happened to that guy

    • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 days ago

      I guess my thought is: What if we had more of a “We know you’re better than this” vibe than the whole “fuck you nazi” vibe?

      He would continue dragging us all further to the right. That was the attitude many gave him, he just revealed how wrong they were to assume he was better than that

      He’s literally the grandchild of Nazi supporters on both sides of his family, it’s super likely if not confirmed his parents were also Nazis. Dude isnt better than this and never has been

    • Naia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      8 days ago

      I’m sorry, but seriously fuck him with the rusty chainsaw he used as a stand in for all the insecurity he has.

      We are well past “you could do better” and more “needs to be tried for literally working to dismantling the government and ruining countless lives”

      • toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        i’m not saying he’s not accountable, i’m just saying it could have been different. we all should have seen the culture war long before it cost us the fucking world. cowboy hats or extensions, you’re (edit: we’re) all fucked now.

        • Naia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          7 days ago

          The culture war has always been a manufactured distraction creates by conservatives to make people blame the powerless instead of the wealthy for their problems.

          As a trans person I am fully aware of the culture war because it effects me directly. I was aware of it long before I considered I might be trans.

          But the culture war is still a distraction. They want to blame the economy and stuff on everything but “corporate greed”.

          But as much if a distraction as it is it sti does harm. It still kills people.

          • toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            A-fucking-MEN. (edit: probably the worst possible time to ‘split the infinitive’ so to speak, but whatever)

            for what it’s worth, i was trying to provide food for thought.

            i hope you have a good sense of humour, because i imagine your typos are the result of having long, fabulous fingernails :P

        • jj4211@lemmy.world
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          7 days ago

          The only chance to show him a better way probably over by the mid 80s. He had cemented a sense of superiority by then and whatever humility he might have had was completely blown away when he managed to sell Zip2 for millions, before anyone knew who he was.

          The only way to “resolve” the “culture war” to Elon’s satisfaction would have been for Vivian to deny her identity and keep trying to be Elon’s son. There’s no fair or equitable resolution that caters to Elon’s sensibilities.

          • toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            That’s the most fucked up part to me. His dick is broken, so he has to rely on IVF for kids. He’s apparently obsessed with having sons, so I’m sure that some fuckery went on with said IFV. and then he had a “son”. but his “son” realized that their gender was engineered. i can’t imagine how fucked up it must be to be her and realize that. now, her fucked up father is saying stuff like “my son is dead”. I think I recommended the wrong target for the hug.

            • jj4211@lemmy.world
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              7 days ago

              Yeah, I couldn’t imagine ever acting like that toward my child the way he acts toward her. Just flat out declaring your child dead to everyone and refusing to acknowledge who they are now, just because of what they chose to do with their own life… It’s pretty heart breaking.

              He doesn’t even have an excuse of losing his path to a genetic legacy, he’s got a dozen living children who may still go on to have children. He’s neglected all of them until Luigi killed a CEO and suddenly he’s carrying one around like an ornament all the time, but still they got his genes, for better or worse.

              Maybe 1970s Elon could have used a few more hugs, but this century it’s just too late.

              • toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world
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                7 days ago

                sometimes you just have to give credit where it’s due, and i’m sure my LLM query cost a bunch of people a day’s worth of artificial light, but here goes:

                • anti-triumph
                • a morality tale
                • a cosmic farce
                • an existential horror
                • a shakespearian tragedy
                • a greek tragedy
                • a geek tragedy
                • a cautionary tale

                (i added the geek tragedy one. tip your waitresses)

    • jj4211@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Guy has been at least been privately documented as an asshole for decades.

      During his dance at his first wedding reception, he informed his wife that he was the “alpha”.

      When his infant son died in 2002, he largely ignored it and said his wife being in pain over their baby dying was just her being “emotionally manipulative”.

      He constantly demanded her to act and look a certain way, and berated her for being a bad wife.

      He was not a better person back then, he just had a more carefully curated online and media presence. His ego has brought him to the point of dropping all pretense.

      You can’t just keep assuming the best of someone acting badly and hope that support and understanding will bring the person around.

      • toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        yeah, you’re right. nothing he does is sincere. i’m just racking my brain trying to find ways for change that don’t involve immolating dealerships. but i suppose that the French have already taught us better.

        • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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          7 days ago

          Your heart is in the right place. Violence alone cannot create a good world. We must strive for empathy and however and whenever this ends a lot of people doing bad things now will need reintegration into society.

          But right now they’re running wild and hurting people. I think your empathy is better given to the red hat down the street that feels trapped and like society and the economy have passed them by.

          Elon is in agony. His wealth is wounding him and making him unable to stop doing evil things. But he won’t give it up without a huge fight and he won’t change with offers. He thinks he’s winning right now.

          For a good example of someone with too much money who has been offered countless gentle hands out of bigotry look at JK Rowling, who’s refused people who were once incredibly close to her giving gentle “hey you’re being bigoted and it’s hurting people who admire you and it’s hurting your reputation and legacy”.

          If you want to do the noble work of helping tight wingers out of the far right look for videos from people who left the alt right talking about their indoctrination and leaving.

    • Jamablaya@lemmy.today
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      8 days ago

      yknow some people just say they’re OK with the “T” part of LGBTQ until their kid or brother becomes one.

      • toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        the term “NIMBY” comes to mind. i never understood how someone can take offense to another person trying to feel more comfortable. isn’t that what we’re ALL trying to do?

    • drhodl@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      Nah. Are you Elon? There’s a point where you have to recognize that a shitheel is still a shitheel. YOU hug him. I’d as soon piss on him for the harm he’s done to others. BY your logic, a billionaire (He’s NOT a trillionaire) doesn’t deserve second chances because the damage has been too great. There is only unfulfilled justice remaining, and hopefully that will catch up with him sooner rather than later.