Elon Musk and F—k You Money: Separating the Messenger FROM the Message
I’m not a huge fan of Elon even though I admire what he has done and for his incredible prowess and intelligence. What I don’t like are his pro-China and Russia views as well as his long time callousness to people. He is what most folks would charitably call an a—hole. But then when you grow up in a brutal place like South Africa and raised by what can be called an abusive sociopath like his father, a lot of his ruthlessness and coldness makes sense.
But he said something in public that really seemed spot on. And illuminated what many people think but could never say out loud.
“What I care about is the reality of goodness, not the perception of it. What I see all over the place is people who care about looking good, while doing evil. F—k them.”
(Source: https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1730013516034101638)
This definitely is a description of many of the elites in the West whether in media, academia, government or business.
Elon can say this publicly because he is a billionaire with FU money. And quoting “Billions” again, “What is the point of having F-U money if you never say FU!” But the observation is that it’s hard to speak truth to power if one has no power or platform or personal brand.
Everyone else is so scared of offending someone or getting canceled. It’s led us to a dearth of any critical thinking and debate in the West.
I work at listening and paying attention to everyone. Even people I really dislike like Elon Musk, David Sacks and Mike Cernovich. David Sacks had incredibly observant views on startups and operating as well as very valid critiques of the Democratic Party and stupid progressive left. I disagree with his views on UKraine of course. Cernovich is a brilliant writer and teaches great mindset stuff but I disagree with his right wing views.
Try to separate the message from the messenger. This is key to critical thinking and something missing in schools and business. An unwillingness to hear the other side leads to major blind spots and faulty thinking. So do remember a broken clock is right twice in the day.