People don’t look at the complexity of a human character. They take the easiest extreme and run with it. I was on another HN thread where practically everyone was calling Elon a psychopath.
If you think objectively Elon is not a psychopath.
He has a higher body count than any serial killer who has ever lived with DOGE alone. He may or may not be clinically diagnosable, but he's a monster either way
While I share your opinion on his character, the first part of what you say is also true for almost everyone who wielded the kinds and scales power that was given to him via DOGE: Every battleship is a hospital not built, etc.
It's sad that this is believed when it's most often the opposite. Especially in this case we have a literal historical example. You'll never guess what Henry Kaiser built before creating Kaiser, the largest set of hospitals in CA.
I can't imagine why you think that's a good example.
The money spent on the ships* could not be double-spent on hospitals. The workers whose manual labour was dedicated to those later ships could not be simultaneously dedicated to more hospitals. The crew of a battleship cannot be simultaneously working in a hospital, the maintenance teams repairing it cannot be simultaneously repairing a hospital.
Every resource-management game demonstrates this principle, even if they're all gross simplifications.
* Wikipedia says Kaiser's ships were cargo and transport, not battleships, which means they had the potential to be a net positive on the economy. This is better than a battleship, because domestic military gear can't be a net positive: the point is to keep matériel and personnel around to deter enemies, and only use them for training and when enemies aren't deterred.
... Did you just suggest gp is "worse than Hitler" for suggesting Elon Musk, a man who's very publicly called empathy a "fundamental weakness" and "threat to Western Civilization", a sociopath? And you went on to compare the powerless women tried for witchcraft to the richest man in the history of the planet? Please go touch grass, my dude.
I suggested he's not in touch with reality when he accuses someone of being a sociopath who is clearly not.
I compared him to the MOB that burned those women. That's the main comparison. You're the same because you and him would put elon to the slaughter because you're mob mentality is as violent as hitler.
> Here's a test: Given the opportunity to kill Elon, you probably would. Given that you think Elon is a sociopath or evil incarnate.
I'm generally against the death penalty. I'd be fine with just stripping him of his wealth and locking him in prison for the rest of his life. He doesn't need to die, but it would be good to minimize/eliminate his influence on the world.
The destruction of the last vestiges of rule of law in the United States, an act in which Musk played a substantial role, unfortunately means he will likely not be prosecuted - but make no mistake, he has committed many crimes.
And now that we are living in a lawless nation, we will all get to see how bad an idea that is.
The president is using the DoJ to represent him in a civil appeal.
The president is creating a slush fund to pay off people who acted violently on his behalf.
The president has declared himself and his family immune from IRS investigation indefinitely.
The president is selling pardons.
The president is running influence schemes in the form of crypto sales and ballroom "donations".
The president is at a minimum enabling the people who are playing the markets (traditional and these new prediction atrocities) in advance of his on again / off again announcements about Iran, tariffs, etc. It's not out of the question that he approves of the activity and/or receives benefits himself.
The president uses mob tactics. Tariffs and DoJ threats are used to run protection rackets. Play along, pay up, and you can make your problems go away. For a bit. They'll be back later and they'll want more.
I value it. But I value it practically and NOT delusionally in the sense that I understand that even though there is law, there will always be people who break the law.
Then when I take this non-delusional perspective and apply it to the US I understand that the US and every country on the face of the earth has a degree of corruption.
Then I do another realistic comparison about the DEGREE of corruption... and we find that the US is relatively NOT lawless when compared with MANY countries.
Also Elon is not a psychopath. But you and many on this thread are delusional.
Of course there will always be people who break the law. There are always people who are going to attempt to do things they're not supposed to do for a variety of reasons.
Rule of law is about consistent application of the law. Laws that aren't consistently applied are just words on paper.
It seems to me that what you actually intended to say is "there will always be people who break the law and get away with it due to their wealth and status."
And yes, there will probably always be some degree of that too. But in a society that claims to follow the rule of law, the goal should always be to minimize the inconsistent application of the law. Part of that is challenging these events when we see them. Like the extreme corruption of the Trump administration versus every president that came before, including his own first term.
Treating an increase of corruption as inevitable is not, in my opinion, valuing the rule of law. It's at best a half-hearted "whatcha gonna do?" shrug-off.
If you think objectively Elon is not a psychopath.