Update: I am now also posting on Bluesky. Will give both platforms — Threads and Bluesky— a try and decide which one works best for my purpose of stimulating engagement and debate in all things related to the US-China relationship.
Musk bought Twitter for solid business reasons. But not to make money on the platform, but rather to use the platform to be the beneficiary of a right wing takeover of the $6.75 TRILLION Federal budget.
You see, all of Musks businesses are either direct government businesses or are subsidized by the government. Musk bought Twitter and removed the platform guardrails and spent about $150 million on Trumps campaign as an all-in bet on Trump/MAGA because Musk’s biggest customer is the Government and Trump/MAGA is now his sugar-daddy.
Take Tesla. In the recent past Tesla did not make money from selling cars. Say what? Yes, they made huge amounts of money selling carbon credits. Ready? Tesla made $1.8 BILLION in 2023 selling carbon credits to automakers who can’t meet emission standards because they want to sell big pick-up trucks and SUVs.
No one wants to sell cars so Musk does in order to make money on carbon credits, a government program. Over time Tesla has made $9 BILLION selling carbon credits. Cool right? No! Where does the electricity come from to charge the car? According to the Center for Sustainable Systems 82% of US electricity comes from fossil fuels. So what are we subsidizing here? Musk has creatively filled a need for other autos to pollute while he does so through a smokestack.
Note: Pre-election Tesla closed at $250 and Friday it closed at $320. Up $70 post election. Musk owns 715 million shares so this week he made $50 BILLION! More than twice what he lost on twitter. Tesla is now valued at over $1 Trillion while Ford and GM are valued at only $40 billion and $60 billion respectively.
Think about this : together Ford and GM had revenues of ~$350 billion and profits of $~$15 billion. Tesla had revenues of ~$100 billion and profits of ~$15 billion. Yet F/GM together are worth 10% of Tesla. And about an eighth of Teslas profits are carbon credits.
Now Musk needs the government to keep out Chinese EVs because they will sell much cheaper than a Tesla and will be of equal of better quality. So now we know why Trump loves EVs now after hating them but will impose 100% tariffs on chinese EVs to protect Musk. Who wins? Musk. Who loses? American consumer. But high EV prices slow adoption of EVs which helps Harold Hamm and big oil who love Trump.
Note: a chinese EV would cost $16,000 while a basic Tesla sells for $35,000.
Beginning to see why Trump bought Twitter and cut the far right extremism loose and threw $150 million at Trump and maybe more?
A few other tidbits:
Starlink is subsidized by the Pentagon and is critical to the Ukrainian war effort and the military and intel agencies are now using his launch systems. In 2023 SpaceX did over 90 launches while NASA did about 30. There are now over 7,000 Starlink satellites in Space with plans for 14,000 by YE 2026. The government is a huge customer, Musk has top security clearance and is talking to Putin and Xi amongst others. National security concerns? You bet. Recall Musk at one point shut off Starlink to Ukraine to shakedown the military for more money and contracts.
Neurolink is subsidized by DARPA,
Solar City runs on huge subsidies, for example:
“New York state is spending $750 million to build a solar panel factory in Buffalo for SolarCity. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company will lease the plant for $1 a year. It will not pay property taxes for a decade, which would otherwise total an estimated $260 million.”
And on it goes. Musk himself said that if Trump lost he would be out of business. So Twitter is a vehicle for him to reach the widest audience with his pro Trump/Maga message and he manipulates the algorithms to put his out messages top of the list.
Oh, and by the way Bezos plays this game as well. Amazon via Amazon Web Services was set up to be the cloud provider to the CIA and other government entities. He bought the Washington Post for $250 million which lost $75 million last year. His space venture CEO met with Trump in the morning and by the afternoon the WaPo said they weren’t doing an endorsement despite it being locked and loaded for Harris. And WaPo is now run by none other than Murdochs former henchman. And also across the board chinese tariffs would be a disaster for Amazon so Bezos and Musk will have a cage match over tariffs.
Final thought: I fully expect Twitter/X/Musk or some other shady group to buy Truth Social for about $8 billion when Trump has to sell. That’s only $11 in Teslas share price. That’s less than 5% of Musks net worth.
Elon Musk overseeing government spending as cover for a purge of the Deep State while being a huge government contractor and propaganda overlord, WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
I’ve been off of social media for a long time and am over it including LinkedIn which is annoying. Canceled WaPo subscription and look for smart people like Steve Roach and Heather Cox Richardson. But mostly it’s become clear that instant news is garbage and the value is in books by thoughtful smart people with good research and credibility.
Here’s a good read:
An analysis from
Professor Christopher Robichaud, Senior Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
_____________________________
I'll say this, and then I likely won't be saying much more on here for quite some time, to the relief of some, I'm sure. But my farewell warning is this.
Everyone in the days and weeks ahead will use this loss as an opportunity to seek validation for their own hobby horse complaint. Harris lost because she campaigned with Liz Cheney. Harris lost because she didn't embrace Gaza. Harris lost because she didn't choose Shapiro. Harris lost because she wasn't progressive enough (possibly my favorite one).
Take a good hard look at the map, my friends. Trump has won the popular vote. Trump ran the table. Explaining that with your hobby horse issue isn't going to cut it, tempting and consoling as it may be.
The problem isn't the electoral college. The problem isn't that we didn't have a full primary. The problem isn't Harris. The problem isn't that Dems didn't have the right message. The problem isn't even inflation or the border.
The problem is so much worse than any of those things. Those are all technical problems, with straightforward expertise fixes. If only it were so! No, our problem is not technical. It's very much adaptive. A party that embraced the Big Lie, supported an insurrection, and has been selling conspiracy-addled madness for years was widely and enthusiastically embraced. Voter turnout was profound! People didn't sit this out.
Simply put, the problem--as some of you have rightly posted--is cultural. America, culturally, has completely abandoned a politics of decency and respect and has embraced instead a politics of resentment, revenge, false nostalgia, and bullying. And if you look at the demographics, you also won't be able to comfort yourself that it's just a white thing, or a working class thing, or an education thing. It's multi-class, multi-gender, multi-educational and multi-racial. That's what winning the popular vote means. That's what running the table amounts to.
A culture that has descended to this level of debasement is not easily fixed. In fact it may not ever be fixed. The timeline for changing something like this is decades--at best--not two-to-four year election cycles. You can extend that in this case, because with the GOP likely controlling all branches of federal government and the courts, they will ensure that mechanisms are in place to keep them in power long after their popularity has waned. You can count on that.
The GOP evolved into a party of rage, lies, and revenge--and it correctly diagnosed that there was and is a large appetite for that. That's what the country wants. At least, enough of the country wants it to ensure broad appeal and widespread electoral success. The old GOP will never return, and the Dems have nothing to say to American culture at the moment. Nothing. They've been speaking to a country that's gone, like dust in the wind.
And that's my final thought, which my posts last night alluded to. The America I knew and loved is gone. This new America--nah, I won't even bother. I will say that cultural change is less likely to occur in politics, or in the academy. You're not going to get people to see how vulgar they've become through a clever argument or a nice campaign speech, that's for sure.
This would be time for the arts, broadly understood, to step in. The arts can change hearts and minds. Too bad the arts have been systematically dismantled in education in this country, and on the other end, the tech industry's assault on the arts through AI is sure to hollow out any good-faith efforts that might emerge.
And for the rest of the world, America's rightward lurch is, I'm afraid, bad news for you too. I know you know this. Because it's not isolated, is it? It's just at the moment the most prominent example of a burgeoning trend. And this will embolden others in other countries, to be sure. We need not speculate what happens when countries become mired in lies, embrace resentment, and savor bullying. We know exactly what happens. Bloody conflict and global destabilization.
The first quarter of the 21st century will therefore in hindsight be viewed as the seed-planting stage for the absolute shit show that's about to unfold globally over the next two and a half decades. Count on it.
Adopt whatever coping and endurance strategies you have available. You're going to need it.
Wow. Incredible, frightening, but unsurpsing expose on Musk. You describe the real new Deep State. Musk has his tentacles everywhere, providing Trump 2.0 with the control that it was unable to achieve in Trump 1.0. An even darker future than we were able to get a glimpse of in the campaign.
Hard to argue with Robichaud — just have to hope that the Trump virus runs its course. Unfortunately, I have no basis on which to frame this hope -- an especially bleak conclusion. Thank you for the thought-provoking feedback.
Update: I am now also posting on Bluesky. Will give both platforms — Threads and Bluesky— a try and decide which one works best for my purpose of stimulating engagement and debate in all things related to the US-China relationship.
"I have attempted to open up a chat-based dialogue on Substack but I have been unsuccessful in figuring that out (any tips would be most welcome)."
eh this doesn't really exist but some people do chat on the notes feature
Agreed - Twitter has just become a cesspool of nutjobs who thrive on misinformation and conspiracies
Just to state your threads profile to me looks like requests are needed and it’s not open to anyone to follow !
I will miss your posts, Mr. Roach. I’ve learned a great deal from you.
Thank you very much. Keep following me on Substack and (now) Threads. Appreciate your support.
Thanks for that Steve.
Welcome to the Resistance.
A few thoughts on Musk/ Twitter/X.
Musk bought Twitter for solid business reasons. But not to make money on the platform, but rather to use the platform to be the beneficiary of a right wing takeover of the $6.75 TRILLION Federal budget.
You see, all of Musks businesses are either direct government businesses or are subsidized by the government. Musk bought Twitter and removed the platform guardrails and spent about $150 million on Trumps campaign as an all-in bet on Trump/MAGA because Musk’s biggest customer is the Government and Trump/MAGA is now his sugar-daddy.
Take Tesla. In the recent past Tesla did not make money from selling cars. Say what? Yes, they made huge amounts of money selling carbon credits. Ready? Tesla made $1.8 BILLION in 2023 selling carbon credits to automakers who can’t meet emission standards because they want to sell big pick-up trucks and SUVs.
No one wants to sell cars so Musk does in order to make money on carbon credits, a government program. Over time Tesla has made $9 BILLION selling carbon credits. Cool right? No! Where does the electricity come from to charge the car? According to the Center for Sustainable Systems 82% of US electricity comes from fossil fuels. So what are we subsidizing here? Musk has creatively filled a need for other autos to pollute while he does so through a smokestack.
Note: Pre-election Tesla closed at $250 and Friday it closed at $320. Up $70 post election. Musk owns 715 million shares so this week he made $50 BILLION! More than twice what he lost on twitter. Tesla is now valued at over $1 Trillion while Ford and GM are valued at only $40 billion and $60 billion respectively.
Think about this : together Ford and GM had revenues of ~$350 billion and profits of $~$15 billion. Tesla had revenues of ~$100 billion and profits of ~$15 billion. Yet F/GM together are worth 10% of Tesla. And about an eighth of Teslas profits are carbon credits.
Now Musk needs the government to keep out Chinese EVs because they will sell much cheaper than a Tesla and will be of equal of better quality. So now we know why Trump loves EVs now after hating them but will impose 100% tariffs on chinese EVs to protect Musk. Who wins? Musk. Who loses? American consumer. But high EV prices slow adoption of EVs which helps Harold Hamm and big oil who love Trump.
Note: a chinese EV would cost $16,000 while a basic Tesla sells for $35,000.
Beginning to see why Trump bought Twitter and cut the far right extremism loose and threw $150 million at Trump and maybe more?
A few other tidbits:
Starlink is subsidized by the Pentagon and is critical to the Ukrainian war effort and the military and intel agencies are now using his launch systems. In 2023 SpaceX did over 90 launches while NASA did about 30. There are now over 7,000 Starlink satellites in Space with plans for 14,000 by YE 2026. The government is a huge customer, Musk has top security clearance and is talking to Putin and Xi amongst others. National security concerns? You bet. Recall Musk at one point shut off Starlink to Ukraine to shakedown the military for more money and contracts.
Neurolink is subsidized by DARPA,
Solar City runs on huge subsidies, for example:
“New York state is spending $750 million to build a solar panel factory in Buffalo for SolarCity. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company will lease the plant for $1 a year. It will not pay property taxes for a decade, which would otherwise total an estimated $260 million.”
And on it goes. Musk himself said that if Trump lost he would be out of business. So Twitter is a vehicle for him to reach the widest audience with his pro Trump/Maga message and he manipulates the algorithms to put his out messages top of the list.
https://www.businessinsider.com/musk-changed-twitter-algorithm-tweets-didnt-get-attention-book-2024-2
Oh, and by the way Bezos plays this game as well. Amazon via Amazon Web Services was set up to be the cloud provider to the CIA and other government entities. He bought the Washington Post for $250 million which lost $75 million last year. His space venture CEO met with Trump in the morning and by the afternoon the WaPo said they weren’t doing an endorsement despite it being locked and loaded for Harris. And WaPo is now run by none other than Murdochs former henchman. And also across the board chinese tariffs would be a disaster for Amazon so Bezos and Musk will have a cage match over tariffs.
Final thought: I fully expect Twitter/X/Musk or some other shady group to buy Truth Social for about $8 billion when Trump has to sell. That’s only $11 in Teslas share price. That’s less than 5% of Musks net worth.
Elon Musk overseeing government spending as cover for a purge of the Deep State while being a huge government contractor and propaganda overlord, WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
I’ve been off of social media for a long time and am over it including LinkedIn which is annoying. Canceled WaPo subscription and look for smart people like Steve Roach and Heather Cox Richardson. But mostly it’s become clear that instant news is garbage and the value is in books by thoughtful smart people with good research and credibility.
Here’s a good read:
An analysis from
Professor Christopher Robichaud, Senior Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
_____________________________
I'll say this, and then I likely won't be saying much more on here for quite some time, to the relief of some, I'm sure. But my farewell warning is this.
Everyone in the days and weeks ahead will use this loss as an opportunity to seek validation for their own hobby horse complaint. Harris lost because she campaigned with Liz Cheney. Harris lost because she didn't embrace Gaza. Harris lost because she didn't choose Shapiro. Harris lost because she wasn't progressive enough (possibly my favorite one).
Take a good hard look at the map, my friends. Trump has won the popular vote. Trump ran the table. Explaining that with your hobby horse issue isn't going to cut it, tempting and consoling as it may be.
The problem isn't the electoral college. The problem isn't that we didn't have a full primary. The problem isn't Harris. The problem isn't that Dems didn't have the right message. The problem isn't even inflation or the border.
The problem is so much worse than any of those things. Those are all technical problems, with straightforward expertise fixes. If only it were so! No, our problem is not technical. It's very much adaptive. A party that embraced the Big Lie, supported an insurrection, and has been selling conspiracy-addled madness for years was widely and enthusiastically embraced. Voter turnout was profound! People didn't sit this out.
Simply put, the problem--as some of you have rightly posted--is cultural. America, culturally, has completely abandoned a politics of decency and respect and has embraced instead a politics of resentment, revenge, false nostalgia, and bullying. And if you look at the demographics, you also won't be able to comfort yourself that it's just a white thing, or a working class thing, or an education thing. It's multi-class, multi-gender, multi-educational and multi-racial. That's what winning the popular vote means. That's what running the table amounts to.
A culture that has descended to this level of debasement is not easily fixed. In fact it may not ever be fixed. The timeline for changing something like this is decades--at best--not two-to-four year election cycles. You can extend that in this case, because with the GOP likely controlling all branches of federal government and the courts, they will ensure that mechanisms are in place to keep them in power long after their popularity has waned. You can count on that.
The GOP evolved into a party of rage, lies, and revenge--and it correctly diagnosed that there was and is a large appetite for that. That's what the country wants. At least, enough of the country wants it to ensure broad appeal and widespread electoral success. The old GOP will never return, and the Dems have nothing to say to American culture at the moment. Nothing. They've been speaking to a country that's gone, like dust in the wind.
And that's my final thought, which my posts last night alluded to. The America I knew and loved is gone. This new America--nah, I won't even bother. I will say that cultural change is less likely to occur in politics, or in the academy. You're not going to get people to see how vulgar they've become through a clever argument or a nice campaign speech, that's for sure.
This would be time for the arts, broadly understood, to step in. The arts can change hearts and minds. Too bad the arts have been systematically dismantled in education in this country, and on the other end, the tech industry's assault on the arts through AI is sure to hollow out any good-faith efforts that might emerge.
And for the rest of the world, America's rightward lurch is, I'm afraid, bad news for you too. I know you know this. Because it's not isolated, is it? It's just at the moment the most prominent example of a burgeoning trend. And this will embolden others in other countries, to be sure. We need not speculate what happens when countries become mired in lies, embrace resentment, and savor bullying. We know exactly what happens. Bloody conflict and global destabilization.
The first quarter of the 21st century will therefore in hindsight be viewed as the seed-planting stage for the absolute shit show that's about to unfold globally over the next two and a half decades. Count on it.
Adopt whatever coping and endurance strategies you have available. You're going to need it.
Wow. Incredible, frightening, but unsurpsing expose on Musk. You describe the real new Deep State. Musk has his tentacles everywhere, providing Trump 2.0 with the control that it was unable to achieve in Trump 1.0. An even darker future than we were able to get a glimpse of in the campaign.
Hard to argue with Robichaud — just have to hope that the Trump virus runs its course. Unfortunately, I have no basis on which to frame this hope -- an especially bleak conclusion. Thank you for the thought-provoking feedback.
SR