Elon Musk

Truth To Power

“Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it”.

Elon Musk, paraphrasing Plato

Even his worst detractors, if they’re being honest, are forced to grant that Elon Musk has a certain genius for problem-solving. In truth, he has a brilliant mind, enormous energy, and is possessed of grand visions for the future. Along with this come a host of flaws; who among us is not human?

His statement on power is subtly incorrect. I fully understand he’ll never read it; my signal here is buried in the noise. Who has the time to read 50,000+ replies anyway? But it’s important that the truth about power isn’t misrepresented without explanation.

Besides: YOU are reading, and that’s enough.

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The Case For Capitalism

EDITORIAL

The newly-crowned World’s Richest Man, Elon Musk, is a favorite target of the purveyors of internet outrage. Those who don’t despise him for hoarding wealth without ending world hunger or homelessness can find hundreds of things to take offense at in his social media accounts alone. His support for blockchain currencies, his apparently artless attempts at market manipulation, and his single-minded drive to solve humanity’s “One Basket Problem” each would attract the ire of the militant Twittarchists*, and yet he keeps coming up with more in what would, to a cynic, almost seem a deliberate effort to taunt them.

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F&L: Andrew Yang and the Yang Gang

There’s a media blackout in force on the Yang campaign; we don’t notice it because there’s another rather more obvious one around Bernie Sanders and a third working against Tulsi Gabbard.  But Yang is different; he’s no party rebel and doesn’t hang out with third-world dictators.  Instead, he’s a genius — not merely smart, but a genius — who wants us to live our lives more rationally.  And he’s willing to be president in order to make that happen.

You can see why I like him already; I can tell. (more…)

In Defense Of Billionaires

You know me:  I see a meme like this, I have to quibble.

Sure, it seems plain enough.  There’s people out there who own more money than a thousand families could use in a lifetime, and at the same time there are kids who can’t buy school lunch, homeless veterans on the streets, and did I mention my underwater mortgage and student loans?  The government’s in debt up to its eyeballs, Social Security is going broke, and who’s gonna pay for it?  Not the billionaires.

All of which is fair enough, so far as it goes.  Thing is, though, (more…)

Climate Change For Skeptics

I’m not a climatologist.  Neither is anyone that’s warned me about the evils of climate change lately.  Like everything else these days, at best we get our information from the news — in other words, a 24-hour 7-day nonstop entertainment program designed to sell advertising and drown out the competition.  At worst, we get our news from Facebook memes, Trump’s or AOC’s latest Tweet, or internet rumormongers.

So it’s not surprising that the American public is, for the most part, sadly misinformed (more…)

Nothing To See Here; Move Along

(or, Why I Haven’t Written Much Lately)

Most of my posts here are about current events.  When an important new law gets signed, I’m all over it; when there’s a big mystery or scandal, I’m right here with my opinion.  Normally, when there’s a pause in the news for whatever reason, I’ll chime in with a suggestion on policy.

Trouble is, right now, nothing’s happening, and what is happening is just more of (more…)

We’re Going To Mars?

(Picture of empty status board in NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building.  Image credit Tony Rice.)

Amid all the scandal, the signing on Tuesday of the NASA reauthorization act (now Public Law 115-10) caused almost no noise in the media.  On the face of it, this is a standard funding authorization, and those aren’t usually worthy of much attention.

But slightly below the surface, this law contains several alterations from the present status.  It’s definitely worth a second look. (more…)