Is Elon Musk a Russian agent?

If you’re the richest man in the world, the only thing you have to worry about is there not being a world to live in. Having this war end in a stalemate solves that problem for Elon…if totally fucking over Ukraine.

All the more reason for wealth taxes so unelected individuals can’t amass fortunes that can dictate the outcomes of foreign wars.

Oddly, I thought he was Russian for the longest time (many years ago). He just seemed Russian to me when I saw photos or heard about him, even though I never listened to him or paid much attention to him. Eventually, I learned he’s South African.

I’m not paranoid that he’s working for Putin. I tend to have an aversion for anyone that a large part of the population idolizes and will seemingly follow that person blindly or think that person can do no wrong. I felt/feel that way about Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, most televangelists, and there are others but I’m drawing a blank.

They probably have dirt in him.

I can sort of see his concern. Society at large is playing with fire here. I think the nuclear threat is real and not being taken seriously enough. Give Putin his little win or some sort of out and defuse the situation. The one thing that scares me more than tactical nukes being used on the battlefield there is what can happen if Russia self destructs over this.

The only thing worse than the current war in Ukraine is a senile old man playing Russian Roulette with Putin. The threat of nuclear war is real and I, for one, would like to see an exit ramp before we get there. Just because Musk doesn’t have the same world view as you doesn’t make him a Russian spy.

This is one of those times when my thoughts on an issue are far closer to @Jaxk or @Blackwater_Park than others here. The fact that liberals have been inoculated against critiques of the current narrative in a way that paints any critique as merely the expression of someone being a Russian agent makes actual conversation re:WWIII and nuclear anhelation off the table.

I’m a little wary of the “everyone is a Russian agent” argument. It played itself out pretty poorly in the wake of the 2016 election. Don’t get me wrong: I fucking hate Putin and I don’t sympathize with right-wing narratives that he’s fighting “Nazis and globalists” in Ukraine (if any country has a bigger Nazi problem than Ukraine, it’s Russia), but I’m afraid that Ukraine is not worth nuclear annihilation and I’ve been saying that since the beginning of this conflict. I don’t really care that Musk said it; what I care about is preventing a far worse conflict than what we’re seeing now. We may not have boots on the ground, but we are fighting this war. We need to figure out how far we’re willing to go.

@Demosthenes So Russian propaganda is a right wing narrative now?

The only people I’ve seen sympathizing with Putin are right-wing, and yes, they are pushing that narrative. People have accused me of supporting that narrative just because I don’t want this conflict to escalate. That’s why I put in the disclaimer. I come across many people online saying Putin is “based” and fighting “Jewish globalism” by fighting Zelensky and Ukraine. That is not my narrative, even I also don’t support continuing to fuel this proxy war.

@Demosthenes I’m calling B.S. on that. you may find a few fringe nutjobs supporting Putin but certainly not any significant right wing constituency.

B.S. on what?

Yes, most of these are far-right. I don’t think mainstream Republicans or right-wingers in the U.S. support Putin.

That the right wing supports Putin and agrees with his narrative. No sir.

I didn’t say they did. I said those who support Putin seem to mostly be right-wing. Far right specifically. I did not say mainstream Republicans or American right-wingers broadly support Putin. Few people support Putin, though when I see the kinds of people who oppose Ukraine and support Putin, it makes me feel more sympathetic to Ukraine even if I ultimately do not think the integrity of their borders is worth this conflict.

Five post above you most certainly did.
“hate Putin and I don’t sympathize with right-wing narratives that he’s fighting “Nazis and globalists”

No, I didn’t. You are reading into what I wrote what you want to read into it, not what I actually wrote. Those are right-wing narratives by definition, because every time I hear those arguments it is coming from right-wingers. That does not mean “all Republicans support Putin”, which is what I didn’t write and what you are reading into it.

There have been Tshirts worn by people that say “Rather be a Russian than a democrat” just an FYI, but I know this is childish partisan anecdotes and not indicative of Republicans as a whole.

@Demosthenes be careful what you write sometimes then. There is no reading that any other way without including the caveats you added in subsequent posts.

I felt I was clear enough.

Ahhh, the old “Russian Agent” charge. Any time lefties don’t like someone they accuse them of being Russian Agents. I guess “racist” got to be old and everyone was catching on, eh?

No, no he’s not.

Yup he just shut down the Starlink system over Crimea that the Ukrainians are using for communication, since the Russians have destroyed the infrastructure of mobile phones and internet. He has handed Putin an advantage !
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2342606-whats-next-if-spacex-wont-fund-starlink-in-ukraine/

My understanding of the Starlink system is that it’s costing about $20 million a month to support. It is asking a lot to say Musk must pay for it. Biden is supplying a lot of money for this war but it’s not his money, it’s our tax dollars. Maybe you all could take up a collection and pay for it rather than asking Musk to pay for it.

@Jaxk Or maybe Ukraine was violating their terms of service and inciting violence or spreading misinformation. Maybe they used hurtful pronouns. And it was so widespread he had to shut the whole thing down. Nah…it HAS to be that Musk is a Russian Agent.

Musk said that he will continue the Starlink service to Ukraine. Link

Maybe he’s just an asshole. He’s rich and he’s smart and some people worship the ground he walks on, but he might be just an asshole.

@jca2 “he might be just an asshole.”

My take is that he’s embraced some form of utilitarianism: e.g. “the greatest good for the greatest number of people” kind of thing. Under utilitarianism, you’re allowed to commit atrocities if they can be justified by a math equation: There are 100 scientists curing cancer who need new kidneys to survive and 50 criminals who each have 2 kidneys plus other organs, if we sacrifice one prisoner to save 2 useful scientists, mankind will be better off, It’s wrong to execute petty criminals, but think of how much good can be done by saving the lives of these scientists curing cancer…

In Musk’s case I think he sees even a small risk of global nuclear Armageddon as too great of a risk to humanity. I think he’s also an asshole.

As much as some of us won’t admit it, we are all mostly utilitarian. Just not in the extreme case presented by @gorillapaws.