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Comment by ETH_start | Hacker News Reader

>>TED continued to uphold and celebrate Musk long after he started engaging in batshit public behavior, from calling people "pedophiles" to peddling transphobic jokes.

This is an extremely hyperbolic account. Yes, him calling a guy a "pedo" on Twitter during a back and forth spat was a mistake that reflected badly on Musk, but well within the realm of sane and forgivable behavior.

Musk has never said anything "transphobic", and the author's claim that he has speaks to the kind of totally intolerant speech-compliance she demands.

It speaks to someone too sensitive to tolerate views that deviate from those of a narrow ideological narrative, which explains why she 1. protects her tweets to not have to face criticism, 2. characterizes restoring free speech to Twitter as "wreaking havoc".

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> but well within the realm of sane and forgivable behavior

No it's not, especially given Musks position and influence, and also hiring a supposed private investigator.

Yes it is. His position and influence does not preclude him from having spats on Twitter, that are obviously going to be taken less seriously than communications in other contexts.

His behavior in the spat did reflect badly on him, but considering the kind of behavior that is regularly ignored and forgiven from celebrities still in the good graces of the social justice crowd, the insistence that it should lead to his social ostracization is insincere, and motivated by an ulterior agenda.

He is the CEO of multiple companies, the richest person in the world, not some random Twitter troll. His voice has far more impact and reach than most too, so what he said will be seen by many. Also many online places will get you banned for calling someone that in an argument.

And what does the social justice crowed have anything to do with this? Bringing them up and their hypothetical behaviour is just some whataboutism, it's got no impact on Musks behaviour.

He is allowed to be human, and act in a personal capacity, with his personal Twitter account. People should be able to differentiate Musk the CEO fron Musk the man.

Society doesn't need to be infantilized, with important people speaking like politicians lest they influence an allegedly impressionable and undiscerning public.

restoring free speech to Twitter

for a brief but memorable moment in history, Mario got his say!

> It speaks to someone too sensitive to tolerate views that deviate from those of a narrow ideological narrative

The only thing that's narrowly ideological is the blind idolization of the so called tech cult ehm...I mean thought leaders in SV.

4 times this guy went to speak at TED and 4 times he produced lies and exxagerations.

It's fair to ask that the apex individual in the public sector (the POTUS, Senators and Representatives) and the pinnacle individuals in the private sector (the Forbes 400) behave with decorum.

Musk has less decorum than Trump and it takes a whole lot to beat him in that category.

>>4 times this guy went to speak at TED and 4 times he produced lies and exxagerations.

You wouldn't even bat an eye if this wasn't Musk, and if Musk hadn't become person non grata amongst the circles that the author travels in. Of course TED talks are going to be aspirational, and present goals that are never realized.

This extreme vilification of Musk is utterly disingenous and clearly motivated by something other than the content of his TED talks, and that "something" is his goal to restore free speech to Twitter, as the author alludes to with her "transphobic" and "wreaking havoc" references, which point to her wanting Twitter to be her safe space, with her own ideology's conception of things, like gender, being the only allowable basis for how people communicate.

Given what Musk has achieved, he deserves credit, and not this bad faith hyper-critical lens that the author and her anti-"rich white guy" (her own words) ideology see him through. People like her, with her false accusations and extremist and ideologically motivated smear campaigns, need to be pushed out of polite society until her crowd realizes that it's not an acceptable way to behave as an adult.

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