3d ago

Bill Gates calls Elon Musk’s embrace of far-right politicians abroad ‘insane shit’

www.theguardian.com Bill Gates calls Elon Musk’s embrace of far-right politicians abroad ‘insane shit’

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist calls fellow tech titan ‘super-smart’ but guilty of ‘overreach’

Summary

Bill Gates criticized Elon Musk for his support of far-right politicians, including the UK’s Tommy Robinson and Germany’s AfD party, calling it "insane shit" and accusing Musk of destabilizing political systems.

Gates questioned Musk's focus on divisive politics while managing global businesses like Tesla and SpaceX.

Gates also expressed concern about wealthy individuals influencing foreign elections.

Musk has faced backlash for controversial actions, including a Nazi salute.

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154 comments

Mr Gates actually has some power to do something about the crazyness and shittines of the world we live right now.
I don't discredit his philanthropic work, some of the things he does is actually good, neither that he calls out the insanity, any sane person should do, but, and this but is as huge as the Titanic, Mr Gates, is able to do something about it, and has been for a long time before shit hit the fan tbh, actions speak louder than words, specially the lack of action lmao.
If Mr Gates really feel this way, he should do something about it, he has the money.
- Money's great and all, but where exactly would his spending help right now?
  Trump's brown-nosing billionaires have trillions between them, let alone foreign governments actively supporting the destabilisation of the western world.
  The far-right has the market cornered on information & infrastructure control currently. Even Gates' would struggle using his money to influence any meaningful change. It's depressing.
  Attacking their fragile egos of Nazis... Now that's free and plentiful.
  
  And if he starts meddling in politics he would just prove the nut jobs right. Nothing would change since the people that need convincing already believe he is pulling strings. They would vote for Trump either way.
  
  What are the rules on offering a reward and legal counsel/protection for someone providing verifiable information about things like how that anonymous Twitter employee said shit happened.
  Tbh I don't really believe that report, it's too easy to just write shit up like that anonymously, but I don't doubt there is some shady shit going on that money would maybe convince someone to leak legit data or knowledge on.
  
  Money would also attract grifters who want to create fake scandals for the payoff. I agree with you that there is absolutely some reprehensible shit going down behind closed doors at Xitter, and at Meta too for that matter, but if Gates or anyone else offered a financial incentive to come forward, finding something that actually happened amid all the reports they received would be like finding a needle in a haystack blindfolded and without a magnet. Especially now that everybody has access to several LLMs to write the fake scandal reports for them. Yes, most would be easy to identify as fake, but someone would still have to take the time to read them. So-called AI detectors aren't worth anything.
  
  Ya, that does make sense. Rewards bring out a lot of fake shit.
  And ya, definitely Meta too. They've been at it so long, I imagine it would dwarf anything we find out about Twitter.
- Maybe it's no coincidence that Twitter has been pushing all the "Bill Gates Microchip Vaccines" lunatics over the last few years, in order to discredit a rival.
- Mr Gates actually has some power to do something
  But he won't
  
  He'll do something to make himself some more money
- He actually does:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Foundation
  Meanwhile Muskyboi donates mostly to organizations that align with his business interests, such as those doing AI and STEM stuff:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musk_Foundation
- Yeah, he cares so much about “polio” and hiv which is fine and all, but he is trying to justify Trump ffs, who is, and was, a covid denier! Calling out musk is the bare minimum, and its just so crazy that nobody has done so yet
- Do what? Governments need to do more.
  You're saying Bill Gates should meddle in international affairs to stop Musk?
- Dont mistake his philanthropy for some form of altruism. He setup the Gates Foundation for tax avoidance pure and simple. The fact he tries to do good with it is a side affect.
  https://youtu.be/69AtkAHkKEc
  
  Okay? So he does good, your point being? He could've done what everyone else does in his place and don't contribute.
  You're letting g perfect be the enemy of good.
  
  your point being?
  It's not nearly enough, he does it to look good more than to actually do good, and he shouldn't ever have had that much money in the first place
  Don't let someone doing a few good things make you think they don't deserve to be killed, eaten, and their wealth redistributed
  Bill Gates isn't a good person
  
  That's a separate point. As long as the result benefits people, the motivation doesn't matter. Gates's problem isn't that he helps fight disease for the wrong reasons. His problem is that he hoards more wealth than anyone could ever need and only helps with a small fraction of the resources he could help with if he really wanted to. But if his tax evasion saves people from painful death by disease, I say it's a good thing. Most billionaires evade taxes without saving anyone else from anything.
  Gates deserves a guillotine with a freshly sharpened and well lubricated blade. Musk deserves a rusty blade that will need to be dropped thrice to get the job done.
  
  Sorry mate this dumb factoid doesn't withstand even a moment's scrutiny.
  If you donate $10 you might save $3 in tax but you lost all $10.
  The Gates Foundation might use a few cents from that $10 for fancy dinners for Gates and his wife or whatever but there are auditors to ensure that the money is used for the people they purport to help. Their records are public and I can assure you that if there were any wrong doing whatsoever the internet would be afire with every detail.

154 comments