Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | Social Media | July 12, 2024
It’s been a while since we talked about Elon Musk. Despite his behavior, he’s still the richest man in the world. The only consolation might be that most of his family probably loathes him. Was it worth it, Elon?
“Yes,” Elon Musk would probably say. “If I don’t like the family I have, I just make another one!” Indeed, the man who already has 12 kids has reportedly offered to “seed a colony” on Mars. He means that literally, according to the NY Times, Musk has offered his sperm so that Mars colonists can populate the planet.
Can you imagine? He wants to be both the Adam and the L. Ron Hubbard of Mars. Taking inspiration from Isaac Asimov’s Foundation, he is thinking big, accelerating SpaceX’s plans to colonize Mars from 40 to 100 years to just 20 years. Musk’s plans for colonizing include ice harvesting, bioengineering organisms to create new species, and using thermonuclear explosions for warmth. The plan is to build a giant dome with smaller domes inside it. They’re even testing plant-based protein sources from Impossible Foods. It’s bad enough having to spend the rest of one’s life on Mars, but to also eat Impossible burgers the entire time?
Elsewhere, while X (formerly Twitter) continues to hobble along, the EU has ruled that its blue checkmark verification system is deceptive. The changes have made it impossible to determine the authenticity of accounts, and bad actors are using the system to manipulate and deceive intentionally. X has an opportunity to appeal, but if the appeal fails and changes aren’t made, X could face fines valued at 6 percent of the site’s global revenue.
I don’t think that X will ever be what it once was — I’ve moved over to Threads — but fixing the verification system would go a long way toward restoring some credibility. Unfortunately, Musk would still own it and remain an obnoxious everyday presence on the site, which is a dealbreaker for me.
Case in point: Elon Musk advocates for criminal prosecutions against “perpetrators and collaborators” behind advertising boycotts on X. In other words, it’s OK to boycott Bud Light because they sent a beer to a trans person, but it’s not OK to boycott X because of the proliferation of hate speech, violence, porn, the terrible user experience, and the very existence of Musk on the platform.
